Memories

by Sun Aura

Canterlot Shenanigans

It was a nice day for a picnic; the sun was out and snow had melted, though it was not yet hot enough to be uncomfortable, and the seven of us had all the food we wanted. It was nearly perfect, held back only by the feeling that I was forgetting something.

I tried to shrug it off and listen to my friends. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were already thinking of having a race against each other, but were having trouble deciding on how far they want to go. Rainbow was arguing for the top of the next hill and back, a quick run where her speed would save her. Applejack wanted it to go to the edge of the forest, letting her endurance hold on and let her pass. Of course, they would not get the chance to even start as an out of breath Spike ran up to Twilight.

“Twilight!” he panted. “I… have a… let me just..!’ green flames shot out of his mouth, forming quickly into a letter from Celestia. Twilight took hold of it in her magic and tore off the seal.

“Dear Twilight,” she read. “I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot.”

“That is what I was forgetting!” I sighed into my sandwich. My mind has been everywhere for the last few weeks, months actually, that I had forgotten how soon it was. Well, I never got an official date for it in the first place, though I should have know it would have been tomorrow.

“I will be presiding over the ceremony,” she continued, “but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for the wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music.”

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “What an honor!”

“Pinkie Pie I can think of no one more qualified than you to host the reception.”

“Hip, hip, hooray!” Pinkie cheered, knocking over the teapot and making a hoofmark on the cake in the process.

“Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the reception.”

“Well, color me pleased as punch!” she replied. I had to stop and wonder how that made sense.

“Rainbow Dash, I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their “I do’s”.”

“Yes!” she shouted, jumping into the air.

“Rarity, you will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids.”

“Princess Celestia wants me to-!” Rarity gasped, smiling uncontrolobly. “Wedding dress? For a Canterlot wedding? I-!” Fluttershy tried to catch her as she wobbled and fainted to the ground.

“Feria, as the bride’s parents are unable to attend, she has asked that you be the one to walk her down the aisle in place of her father.”

“Really, she wants me to do that?” I asked softly. As much an honor as it is, I felt so sad for her. Parents are supposed to see these milestones in their child’s life. They will never be able to see their daughter’s wedding, or meet their grandchildren. I began to wonder why she chose me, but I assume an aunt would be next after non-existent siblings.

“And as for you, Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all very soon. Yours, Princess Celestia.” Twilight stopped and reread the page, even checking the back of it. “But I don’t understand! Who’s getting married?”

“He did not tell you?” I asked. What kind of stallion does not tell his own sister about his wedding?

“Who didn’t tell me what?” she asked.

“Oh, wait!” Spike interrupted, holding another letter. “I was probably supposed to give you this one first.” Twilight rolled her eyes and took up the other letter.

“Princess Celestia cordially invites you t the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and-!” she gasped as she reached the second name. “My brother!”

“Your brother’s gettin’ married?” Applejack asked. “Congratulations, Twilight! That’s great news!”

“Yeah,” she grumbled while Applejack shook her hoof. “Great news that I just got from a wedding invitation! Not from my brother, but from a piece of paper!”

“That is what I was talking about!” I exclaimed. “I thought he told you! I can understand not showing up, but I assumed he at least sent a letter!”

“You knew about this?” she asked. I felt almost like she would attack me.

“I found out from the Bride!” I defended. “If he was marrying anypony else I would not have known until you knew!”

“Is it really so hard to come and tell me he’s getting married? Thanks, Shining Armor!” she picked up a sandwich in her magic, moving the bread like a mouth and poorly imitating his voice. “Hey Twilight, just thought you should know I’m making a really big decision that changes everything! Oh, nevermind! You’ll hear about it when you get the invitation!”

“And there lies the true problem,” I said to myself. This is about his decision, not the fact that he did not tell her. She would have been upset when he told her, but the fact that he did not just adds to her anger.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” she asked with a fake and somewhat creepy smile. “Who in the hoof is that?”

“Oh that’s C-“ I tried to respond before she cut me off with a stomp of her hooves.

“Twilight are you okay?” Futtershy asked. She breathed out in an attempt to calm herself. Her stance returned to normal and her breathing was less of an angered huff.

“Sorry,” Twilight sighed. “It’s just that Shining Armor and I have always been so close. He’s my B.B.B.F.F.!” the phrase was met with blank stares.

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever,” I translated for them. I heard murmurs of how it made sense. I got that lesson the first time I saw a tiny lavender Unicorn bounce up to one of the new guard recruits.

“Before I came here and learned the importance of friendship,” Twilight continued, oblivious to my translation, “Shining Armor was the only pony I had ever accepted as a friend. I thought it was silly to go around making friends.”

“That is an understatement,” I agreed. “I am pretty sure I have argued with my sisters in the last few months more than two of you have ever.”

“I haven’t seen him since I moved to Ponyville,” she said. “I guess I hadn’t realized how much I missed him until now.”

“As one of your P.F.F.’s,” Applejack began, pausing to roll her eyes at the confused look she got. “Pony Friends Forever. I wanna tell ya that Ah’ think your brother sounds like a real good guy.”

“He is pretty special,” she admitted with a smile. “I mean, they don’t let just anypony be Captain of the Royal Guard.” That got a scream out of a now-awake Rarity.

“So let me get this straight!” she exclaimed. “We’re helping out with the wedding of not only a princess, but a Captain of the Royal Guard?

“I guess we are,” Twilight confirmed. I giggled as Rarity fainted with happiness again.

“I thought she’d be more excited about the Princess than the guard,” Rainbow commented as we walked home to pack. Twilight was levitating a still unconscious Rarity over the path to her home.

“Well there are a lot of royals,” I said. “Well, twelve currently, and the last Royal Wedding was held over in Zebrica about five years ago, so nopony here got to flip out about it. But there are only two captains of the Royal Guard, one for the Solar Guard and one for the Lunar Guard; Shining Armor captains the Solar guard while a Pegasus mare named Gale Strike is the current Lunar Guard Captain. A guard captain getting married is actually quite rare, as most ponies to get the position are middle-aged and usually married already. Plus, Shining’s actually the youngest pony to ever become captain; He was eighteen, if I remember correctly.”

“Well if you two like him, he’s probably not half bad!” she joked. “Well, I’ve got to go pack. See you on the train!” I rolled my eyes as I continued to my house.

I do not know what ponies expected my house to look like, yet they are always surprised to see it. My place was right in the middle of the path from the Library to Sugarcube Corner, and not too far from the Carousel Boutique. It was not much different from most houses in town, with pale yellow walls and not much of a yard. The inside had the same basic layout as every other house in this section. There were two floors, the bottom one containing a kitchen, a living room, and a small dining room and an office space; the top floor had two bedrooms and a bathroom.

The inside was probably different from everypony’s house. The floor was made of a dark wood and the walls were a deep forest green. I smiled at the fact that I had tried to recreate the forest, to recreate the view from my first home, before I even knew that it was.

I rummaged through the kitchen first; I never was able to finish my brunch after the announcement. I sighed. There was plenty of food but nothing to eat, as it always is in your own fridge. I reminded myself to grab a few extra bits to buy something on the train. I think it should still be cold enough for them to be selling hot chocolate.

As I wandered upstairs, I could not help but feel like something would go wrong. That seems to be how it works lately, a simple event turns into a whole parade of screwing up. The Summer Sun Celebration, the Gala, and on that one day we were going to spend the day having a picnic and just having fun before that happened.

I did not have much to pack. Ponies do not usually wear clothes, and all toiletries I needed I had a twin set for in my bedroom in Canterlot. Mostly, the suitcase was filled with things to read and a few notebooks and sketchbooks. I was not as good at drawing as Morning Aura was, nor was I as good at writing like Evening Soul, but I liked it. I had begun to realize how many times my previous life bled into this one; my house reflected the forest, and the ponies I drew looked quite similar to some I had known back then.

From the closet I grabbed the dress I wore to the Gala. I figured Rarity would make me a new one no matter what I say, but I wanted to show her that I would like to make it easier on her. It would be easier to make the bride look even more beautiful than the mare walking next to her when you already have a basis for that mare’s beauty, instead of trying to create two new beautiful dresses.

I opened a drawer to get the last item I needed. I honestly had not looked at it in months. A wooden box was lifted out and set on the vanity. I looked inside to see a tiara, my tiara. For the first time in forever, I put it on my head.

The tiara sparkled upon my head. I studied it; it was gold like Celesta’s, though a bit smaller. It was cut differently too, almost like a stylized fire drawing, waving a bit instead of being a straight or curved line. The ruby in its center caught the sun’s light and created a glare, of course bouncing off the mirror into my face. I tilted my head, blinking as the spot left my eyes.

I rarely wore this thing because I never felt I deserved the princess title. Do I think I might deserve the title now? After all, I was a powerful, immortal being who had saved the world a few times. I frowned at that thought. Saving the world does not earn you a title, or else so many other ponies would be princess, including my fellow Element bearers. Power and Immortality should not make you royal either.

I put the crown back in the box and shoved the whole thing into my suitcase. Remembering to grab the extra bits, I hurried with my stuff out the door. I might feel better about wearing the crown for events like tomorrow, but I still do not think I deserved it.

* * *

“A sonic rainboom?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “At a wedding? Can you say ‘best wedding ever’?”

“Best wedding ever!” Pinkie screamed as we entered the tunnel up the mountain. I sighed and closed the book I had been reading. I could tell I probably would not get past more than another page before we had to enter.

“So you all get to help with the big fancy wedding,” Spike said, “But I’m the one who gets to host the bachelor party! I have just one question: What is a bachelor party?” Nopony answered, we just laughed. He will find out sooner or later, but he will not be planning this one. Even if spike could plan the party Shining probably would not be able to go. Though I am sure the guard will do something as a sendoff for him before the night is up.

“Why the long face, sugarcube?” Applejack asked Twilight.

“I’m just thinking about Shining Armor,” she replied. “Ever since I moved to Ponyville we’ve been seeing each other less and less. And now he’s starting a new family with this “Princess Mi Amore Ca-whatshername”, we’ll probably never see each other!”

“Cadenza,” I corrected. “And he would still be marring her and starting a new family if you had stayed in Canterlot.”

“You’re his sister,” Applejack agreed. “He’ll always make time for you.”

“Couldn’t seem to make time to tell me he was getting married!” she shouted, angrily closing the blinds.

“We’re here! We’re here!” Pinkie squeaked. I looked out the window, and sure enough we were approaching the city. The only strange thing was the pink bubble surrounding the perimeter.

I knew what the shield spell was and how it worked in theory, but I still was not expecting it. It works by keeping out things over whatever magic the caster sets it for, and if something gets stopped, the caster analyzes it and decides to let it in or not. One could set it to keep out anypony with a magic level and keep everything out, but I could feel this was designed for those with large magical power or a magical power that was not that of a Unicorn, Pegasus, or Earth Pony.

The magic shield let the train pass through like it was not even there. My friends caught on it a little, but not enough for them to notice, except for Twilight, who stumbled as the wall pushed her back a couple inches. I was pushed back nearly a foot before it let me through. I knew Shining Armor was casting the spell, but it was interesting to feel. When the shield hit me, it felt like facing a pony defending their own, but once he let me through, it felt like somepony protecting me.

“Whoa, what’s with all the guards?” Rainbow asked as we began to disembark.

“I’m sure they’re just taking the nessecary precautions. Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies!” Rarity answered. As if on cue, Pinkie sneezed out confetti.

“Now,” she continued, “let’s get going! We’ve got work to do!”

“And you’ve got a big brother to congratulate!” Applejack told Twilight.

“Yeah,” she grumbled. “Congratulate. And then give him a piece of my mind!”

“Rarity, can you take my bag to the castle for me?” I asked.

“You’re going to follow her and make sure that ‘piece of her mind’ doesn’t include a lecture that embarrasses her brother in front of the guard,” she guessed, taking my bag in her magic.

“No, he deserves it for not telling her,” I replied. “I am going to make sure she does exactly that. Maybe I will throw in my own type of punishment for him, while I am at it!”

It was a quick trot around the perimeter wall of the city. The captain would be set up not too far from here, at the gate letting in ponies from the roads. Shining armor was easy to spot on the wall; his armor, while having the standard gold, was also decorated with liberal amounts of purple. I always thought Shining was perfect for a guard. He had the leadership skills along with great physical and magical abilities, and I loved the fact that the spell on the armor to make the guard look similar was useless on him, since his own coat and mane were already the uniform colors!

“I’ve got something to say to you, mister!” Twilight shouted as we neared the gate.

“Twily!” Shining exclaimed, hurrying down from the walkway. “I’ve missed you, kid! How was the train ride? I-“

“How dare you not tell me that you were going to get married!” she said smacking away the hoof he held out to her. “I’m your sister for pony’s sake!

“It’s not my fault!” he defended. “Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security. Didn’t you see the guards at the station?”

“Yeah, there’s a big wedding coming up,” she replied, storming of to a nearby pond. “Maybe you’ve heard of it?”

“It has nothing to do with the wedding,” he explained, following her. He turned to me. “Didn’t you tell her?”

“It is not my job to tell her about your wedding,” I said.

“I meant the threat,” he sighed.

“Oh right, that!” I answered. “I did mention it, but even I do not completely know the details. And the threat has only been up for a few days, so that does not explain why you did not send a letter beforehoof.”

“A threat has been made against Canterlot,” he told her. “We don’t know who’s responsible for it, but Princess Celestia has asked that I help provide extra protection. This, you need to see.”

He stepped back from us. Concentrating, he lit his horn; his magic was more of a rose color compared to Twilight’s raspberry pink. A beam of magic shot out of his horn, recasting the shield spell over the city. The magic stopped, and he began rubbing his forehead, he seemed to be a bit dizzy. That seemed to take a lot out of him, though he has to keep out beings with a higher level magic than him, which cannot be easy.

“That was quite cool to watch,” I said, feeling the magic strengthen all around us. As much as I felt protected by this spell, it was different from his usual magic. His magic always felt like somepony protecting me, but this one came with the knowledge that something was also attacking us.

“The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders,” Shining said. He headed back up the stairs to the gate while we followed. “Staying focused on the task at hand is my top priority.”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Twilight sighed. “You’ve got a really important job protecting Canterlot with a forcefeild only you can conjure up. But still, how can you not tell me about something as big as your wedding? You didn’t even send a letter.”

“And that is where I drew the line,” I interrupted, almost laughing when I saw him grimace. “So since you are thinking about things I could have told her, as punishment, I will remind you of something you did not think I knew about.”
“Go ahead,” he challenged. “I have no secrets.” I smiled gleefully. He really thought I did not know. I glanced to the sides, where a few of the guard were eavesdropping on our conversation.

“Just two words, a name, really,” I warned. “Glimmer Shield.”

I laughed as the red came to his face, white coat showing off every shade possible. Twilight looked back and forth between us in confusion, while the eavesdropping guards practically fell over trying not to laugh. Once he recovered from the shock, Shining began rubbing his head.

“When I find the guard that told you about that….” He threatened.

“Who do you think told the guard!” I laughed. “Speaking of guards, where is Iridescent Blade?”

“He should be with Princess Celestia in the observation tower,” he answered.

“In that case, I have done what I came here for. I should be off!” I said, climbing onto the railing. “I should visit both of them, and you two can figure the rest of the mess out! Twilight, do not be mad, and Shining, explain the Cadenza thing for me!”

“Hey!” he yelled. “You can’t just-!”I ignored him and jumped from the railing, unfurling my wings and hovering for a moment.

“See you tonight!” I laughed. “Arrivederci!” As I flew off, all I could think was that I had not said that word in forever. I had not used it since-
I nearly fell out of the sky at the realization. That was Discord’s favorite way of getting out of trouble; he would say that word and teleport away, hiding until the pony he pranked had calmed down. I sighed at the thought. I would not allow myself to think of him today.

“Let it go,” I whispered to myself. I closed my eyes and flew higher and higher, the wind whipping through my mane and tail making them wild. I stopped only a few feet away from where I knew the shield was. I looked into the Realm of Souls.

It was an incredible view. Ponies think they look colorful, but they have never seen this. There were more shades of every color than one would think to be possible! I could actually see more ponies here than I could when looking with my eyes. Buildings were invisible, but the ponies inside were not. Inanimate objects were always interesting to look at in the realm of souls; they were sort of like glass, you cannot ‘see’ them but you know they are there.

I came back to reality and looked over the city as everypony else sees it. It was still beautiful, but not in the same way. This had beauty of architecture and landscaping, the work of ponies. The Realm of Souls held the beauty of the ponies themselves.

I angled myself downwards, flying to what had been a large golden light. In a tall tower was a balcony, Celestia standing watch with an old telescope. I circled the tower before landing next to her.

“Good morning, Celestia!” I said.

“Morning to you to,” she replied, pulling away from the telescope. “Would you like something? How about an early lunch?”

“No thanks, I ate on the train,” I said. I noticed the silence she held instead of another question. “What is the question you are dancing around?”

“You know me too well,” she sighed. “Are you still upset from what happened last time?”

“Not really,” I answered. “I was not mad, I was scared. If he had influenced you more, who knows what could have happened. It could have been worse than Nightmare Moon.”

“The idea that I could have-“she tried to say.

“Do not think of it!” I stopped her. “There are much worse things that could have happened, things that you could have made the conscious decision to do! Tia, you do not need to degrade what you have done because of what you might have done.”

“You’re right,” she agreed. I could tell that she did not fully believe me, but pushing further would do nothing right now. I needed t change the subject,

“Why are you alone?” I asked, registering the lack of ponies in the room. “Are you not supposed to have a guard?”

“There was an emergency,” She explained. “There had been one here a few minutes ago, Iridescent Blade, I think it was. He was the Acting Captain; he had to do all of the things Shining Armor can’t do because of the preparations, the actual wedding, and for next week the Honeymoon. A Pegasus came and delivered a message that somepony he knew had gotten into an accident.”

“Do you know who?” I asked. “Have you heard anything else?”

“I’m not quite sure who,” she answered, “though since the messenger said it was ‘a friend’ and not family member, but the guard was his emergency contact, I suspect it was their special somepony.

“The messenger did say that the pony was fine,” she assured, seeing the shock on my face, “but still in the hospital. The guard said he would stay, but I told him he could leave. It was easy to see how nervous he was; the poor stallion was practically shaking, on the verge of a panic attack. As soon as I assured him everything would be fine if he left for an hour or so he quite literally flew out of here.”

“It is good that the pony is okay,” I said, releasing a breath I did not know I was holding.

“Yes, it is,” she agreed. “As for today, I still have things I need to do. Considering the rehearsal isn’t until tomorrow morning, do you think you can entertain yourself until then?”

“I guess,” I sighed. “Everypony else has something to do to prepare or continue guarding. I was planning on talking to Iridescent then seeing where Sparking was and get to know him better until dinner, but that plan seems to be shot.”

“You could wait an hour for him to come back,” she suggested.

“Well if your theory is correct, Sparking is the one in the hospital,” I said to her surprise. “And I do not think I should intrude on a hospital visit.”

“You are welcome to do nearly anything,” she reminded me. “Zircon and Wavechaser aren’t here yet, they should be getting of the train within the next half hour, but Stormcloud, Desert Rose, Fire Trail, Brave Song and their companions are down in the courtyard.”

“Thanks for the tip,” I said. She returned to her lookout while I wandered outside. I nodded to ponies I knew on the way, but I did not stop to chat.

Out on the grass was a group. I could see four ponies, three dragons, three griffons, and a minotaur. This was a strange group under most circumstances.

“Hey! You made it!” shouted the purple and red unicorn, waving me over.

“Hello, Fire Trail,” I laughed. “How have you all been?”

“Same as always,” Dessert Rose smiled, tying her purple mane out of the way. “But I hear you’ve been up to some shenanigans since my last visit.”

"Maybe you should visit more often then,” I retorted. “And yeah, I would call recovering lost magics and bringing back the moon princess out of the ordinary.”

“Actually she was talking about-!” Stormcloud began before his mouth was covered by Brave Song’s brown hoof. I saw his eyes flicking over my shoulder, towards the statues I knew were behind me. I felt myself burning. Was it anger or embarrassment?

“I will save you from this by asking for introductions,” I said, unable to hide my annoyance.

“Good idea!” Brave Song jumped in. “Everyone, this is Princess Feria.”

“Glad to meet you all,” I said.

“This is Wood Cutter,” he said, gesturing to the green Minotaur beside him.

“Hello,” the Minotaur greeted. “You’re another one of Brave’s cousins, I assume?”

“Technically I am all of their aunt,” I answered her. “Which is strange, considering all of my nieces and nephews are years older than me; except for Wavechaser, she is a few years younger.”

“And these are Welder, Ruby, and Rebel,” Fire trail continued, pointing to each dragon in turn. Welder and Ruby were both red scaled, though Welder had blue spikes while Ruby’s were orange. Rebel’s scales were green and her spikes pink; the spikes matched her name, laying in a way that imitated ponies’ ‘punk rock’ styles. The two females seemed closer to my age while Welder seemed a few years older.

“I’m Pepper,” the black and gray griffon introduced herself.

“I’m Destiny,” he was a lighter brown color than the other.

“I’m Galore,” the other male concluded.

The three of them seemed completely indifferent. I smirked at their game. The thing about Griffons, is that they do not pay much attention to you unless you prove yourself to them. I was already forming an idea.

“Hey, Stormcloud!” I shouted. “How about a race?”

“Around the castle?” he asked

“Hey, I have time to kill here!” I laughed. “ I do not have anything to do until dinner. How about around the city?

I watched him hesitate. We were like Applejack and Rainbow Dash this morning; he was faster yet I had more stamina. Even before I gained more magic we would be this way. He knew how to use his lead to beat me, but he wondered how it would look if he lost.

“You’re on!” he agreed. I could see the griffons perk up.

“Standard fairness rules,” I smirked. “No weather control, no spells. We go from here, north, around once and back to this spot. Des, your call.”

“You really want to do this?” she asked. She sighed when we did not answer. “Fine. Three, two, one, go!”

It was not even a second before we were in the air. I was doing better than I thought I would. He was not the fastest Pegasus I had met, that title goes to Rainbow Dash, but he was still up there. Now we were close enough to talk to each other.

“You’re getting better!” he called back to me. “You get flight training down in that down?”

“Just a crazy couple of months!” I yelled back. “I got a magic upgrade!”

“We said no spells!” he reminded me.

“Pegasai use magic to fly, remember!” I laughed.

If I had wanted to, I probably could have put all my magic into my flight. I could easily pass him. That would be, if I did not need to worry about stamina. Going his speed around the city would leave a Pegasus of his caliber completely exhausted by the landing. I needed to keep some magic going in my stamina if I did not want to fall out of the sky.

I had forgotten how much strain is put on my wings when I race. I could not go at just any pace; I had to keep going with all my strength. Stormcloud was doing better too. Usually I would begin catching up by the half-way point. Flying with griffons can strengthen your stamina.

It was not until the last quarter that he began to fade. I could see the courtyard again. Fire Trail had cast a spell for a finish line: a circle of flames that would surround the one who got there first, just in case they could not tell with their eyes.

We were even now. No, I was pulling ahead. I closed my eyes and focused on his wings. Every beat I matched, maybe a fraction of a second apart. When he tucked them in and went into a dive I did the same. I knew his strategy. He would wait until the last possible second to unfurl his wings. I unfurled my wings first, and saw the magic surround Stormcloud as my hooves touched the ground.

“Now that was quite the impressive show,” chuckled a new yet familiar voice.

“I was wondering when you three would get here,” I grinned, opening my eyes again.

“Zebrica is a bit far away,” Zarnie replied.

“Just a bit further than Des in Saddle Arabia,” Zircon grinned at me.

“Wow, Stormcoud!” Wavechaser giggled. “You sucked today! If you perform like that all the time I’ll be able to beat you!”

“Actually he did better than normal,” I corrected. “He did not even start losing his speed until the last quarter of that.”

“You don’t have to lie to save his reputation,” Zarnie teased.

“Why do you all expect me to be terrible?” I sighed, shaking my head. “It has been a while since I raced him last. Why can you not believe I got better? He just happened to beat me, like always. Maybe one day someone will beat him.”

“No way!” Stormcoud shouted. “I always finish first!”

“Your marefriend must be so disappointed,” Zircon smirked.

We all stayed quiet as we processed that joke. If Stormcloud were not almost as dark as me his face would probably be scarlet. I think it was actually Des who cracked up first, quickly followed by the rest of us.

As we began to settle, I walked toward Zarnie and pulled her a little away. I thought I had seen something in the Realm of Souls when I landed and I wanted to be sure. It was still there when I checked.

“When are you going to tell us?” I questioned, trying to make sure they did not hear me.

“Tell you about what?” she asked in response.

“You are far enough along to have noticed by now,” I said. Her eyes widened when she saw what I was talking about.

“I just found out a few days ago,” she explained, dropping into a whisper.

“Does Zircon know?” I asked.

“Yes, I told him before we left,” she answered. “I was going to mention it after the wedding. I didn’t feel like upstaging it.”

“I do not think you could upstage the event!” I said. “You would just provoke Tia into bugging Cadence and Shining about when they are going to have a child. At worst she would bug the rest of her niblings about when they will get a special somepony.”

“Well that’s good.” she sighed.

“We should join them before they get too suspicious,” I replied, jerking my head toward their group.
With a nod we rejoined them. It felt great to be with my old group again. It had been years since all of us were together. Actually, the last time was when Zircon and Zarnie got married. They rarely made it over for birthdays or Hearth’s Warming anymore, and casual visits were near unheard of.

Of course, I had to explain everything about the past life and my new magical power. When one of the griffons, Pepper, mentioned that I should have won the race, it made Wavechaser and Stormcloud go into another round of arguing. It was a few hours before we began going anywhere.

“Do you want to come to dinner with us?” Fire Trail asked as the sun was going down.

“I would love to, but I already have dinner plans with friends,” I told her. Disappointment began creeping onto her face. “You are going to Sweet N’ Savory, right? If we have time between eating and my dress fitting I can bring them by. If not, I will introduce you all properly at the reception. Okay?”

I got to see her nod in agreement before something hit me. It felt solid, so it could not have been magical. It still hurt to have something smack into you at many miles per hour.

“What the hay?” I groaned, testing my limbs for injuries. I had a few sore spots that might be bruises, but I was okay. It took a moment to register everything. Next to me I could see something, no it was somepony with a blonde mane. I could see gray wings; a Pegasus?

“Are you okay?” I heard a voice say. I think it was Zircon.

“Fine,” I answered. “Head on to dinner without me though. I need a minute.

“Sorry,” the gray pegasus groaned back, rubbing her shoulder. It was her voice that snapped my mind back into it.

“Derpy?” I asked. “What are you doing here? You should be home by now.”

“You asked that your mail be forwarded to Canterlot for the next couple days,” she reminded me. My group was taking my advice and heading away. “It was my turn to deliver the things that come up here.”

“Oh, right,” I agreed. “I just get a little disoriented when somepony tackles me from the sky.”

“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed. “I should have been more careful! Or I should have just waited for you to land and land after you or something! I didn’t mean to-“

“It is okay!” I stopped her. “Even ponies with perfect eyesight fly into things. Actually, that’s the best crash I have been in, there are no wounds or breaks or even a scrape.”

“That’s good,” she agreed, calming down. “Oh, I should probably get your letters! Where’s my bag?”I watched as she rummaged through the brown satchel, looking for things addressed to me. She was really quite adorable, which is strange to say about a pony older than me, even if it was just by a few years.

“Thank you for coming all the way up here this late,” I said. I noticed a flash of light on her bag. A jewel was tied to the strap with a sea green ribbon. Was the jewel catching the light or did it spark on its own?

“It’s my job,” she answered, holding out a stack of letters; there were more than usual. “I might be clumsy, but I have more stamina than the other pegasai there. I’m the only one in Ponyville’s post office that can make it up here and back in less than a day.”

“I rarely hear that,” I commented. Forgetting about the jewel I took the letters in my magic. I put them into a magical storage, a pocket in between space where I could pull them out from later. “I mean about the stamina. I hear about the clumsiness fairly often.”

“Yeah,” she murmured, wincing at my comment. “Most ponies think that’s all I am. Either that or some idiot or-! Oh! Uh, don’t let me bother you with my issues; you probably have a lot to do. I’ll just be on my way!”

“Now wait a second!” I exclaimed. “I did not mean that we all think you are some idiot for running into things. From what I have seen, those rumors are exaggerated. You do very well for one with no depth-perception. I just said that it is something I hear often, probably because I rarely talk to you directly, which is my own fault, and something I would like to change.”

“You’d like to talk to me more often?” she asked.

“Yes, I would,” I said. “I can count on my hooves how many Ponyville residents I talk to on a regular basis that are outside of my group of Element Bearers or ponies I work with at the time. You can talk to me about anything that bothers you. Come on, I do not think you would want to stay in the garden. And you should have something to eat before the flight back.”

“Well, I…” she began, but paused to walk with me. “They don’t think I’m stupid because of my depth-perception. It’s because of Dinky.”

“How does that make ponies think you are an idiot?” I asked.

“Do the math,” she replied. “I’m only a few years older than you, and Dinky’s just a little younger than your friends’ sisters.”

“That does not make you an idiot,” that was the only answer I could come up with. As we entered the kitchen’s back door, a chef came up to me trying to ask what I wanted, but I just nodded for him to get something for Derpy. He went on his way, looking for something to get her.

“Tell that to the others,” Derpy said. “I was about her age when I had her! I don’t regret having her at all, I just wish that it could have happened later. She doesn’t hear everything, but she knows what some ponies say when they think we can’t hear. At least I learned from my mistakes. The Sex-Ed classes at her school don’t start for another year, which is a fair amount of time for her to be old enough without knowing. That’s how I ended up with her, nopony told me until I was already pregnant.”

“I should see what I can do about that,” I replied. “The schools here in Canterlot might start earlier, but their system is to only teach it for two weeks and mix it in with a general health class about physical exercise and eating right. They cover the basics of how it works, along with things like diseases and such, but mostly they just emphasize that the only safe way is to not do it at all.”

“That’s a trick,” she laughed. “What’s the safest way to play hoofball? Don’t play!”

“Exactly,” I laughed with her. “They barely even touched the subject of sexuality. They only told us that some ponies like the same gender, and that ‘even fewer’ like both genders! My last year of school, I saw a mare burst into tears when a friend told her that it was normal for some ponies to not feel an attraction to any gender.”

“I don’t think anypony in Ponyville knows about that,” she replied. “I didn’t even know about bisexuality until I started working for the post office.”

“Well, I am definitely putting it on my list of things to discuss with Celestia,” I sighed. “I was wondering something. Well, two somethings really. One is about Amethyst. The other thing is who is Dinky’s father? It is okay if you do not want to talk about it but I-“

“It’s alright!” she assured me. “You said I can talk to you about anything, and I’ll take you up on the offer. His name was Ocean Light. I met him at school; he had been a year older than me. Ocean was a talented Unicorn. He did his best work with water magic.

“We started dating when I was around Dinky’s age,” she continued. “Eventually on a date things got out of hoof and, well, while we didn’t know much about what we were doing, but our bodies knew the steps. There was this whole disaster when our parents found out. His parents suggested giving her up for adoption. They didn’t even want Ocean to see me anymore, and at first he agreed, not wanting to deal with it. Then Dinky was born, and he tried being around for us. He even gave up on applying to the School for Gifted Unicorns and helped me raise her.”

“This is all past tense,” I noticed. “What happened?”

“Th-there was a fire,” she answered. I could see her eyes glistening with ready-to-flow tears. “Dinky was maybe a year when it happened, and thank the stars she was with me that night. Ocean’s entire house set fire. The only one to make it out was his little sister, Amethyst Sparkler. They didn’t have any family, so my parents took her in. She was about four at the time, so they think of each other as sisters instead of an aunt and niece. As soon as I was legally able I officially adopted Amethyst as my own daughter.”

“I am sorry,” I told her. “I wish I could help.”

“It’s okay,” she replied. “The girls and I do fine on our own. Amethyst is even getting to work soon. You know Rose Quartz, right? She offered Amethyst an apprenticeship as her shop.”

“That is great!” I exclaimed. “Even so, there are a lot of things I should be doing to help the town.”

“Excuse me, ma’am?” interrupted the chef from earlier. “I got something for your friend.”
I looked over at him, holding a large plate in his magic. I could smell the food, reminding myself that I had my dinner plans to get to. I liked this chef, his name was Honey Mint, and he always knew the best meal. Tonight he had chosen something simple, grilled cheese and tomato soup, perfect for relaxing from a cold night.

“Thank you,” Derpy and I both said. We smiled at the simple act.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything, Princess?” Honey asked me.

“No, I need to-“ I stopped and looked at the clock above the doorway. It was later than I thought it was. “Oh I am sorry, Derpy, but I had made plans to meet my friends for dinner soon.”

“It’s okay,” she replied, beginning on the sandwich. “I did pop up unexpectedly.”

“You are going back home after you eat, right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “I should get home to the girls. Amethyst probably could handle babysitting for the night, but I’d rather be with them than stay up here.”

“Okay, I will see you later, then,” I said. “Goodnight. And tell Dinky and Amethyst that I say ‘hello’.”

“I will!” she answered as I ran out the door. I was half way to the front gate when I ran into another pony I knew.

“I am running into everypony today!” I shouted to him. “Hi there, Iridescent!”

“I wondered where you were!” he laughed. “I can’t stay long, I-“

“I already found out about Sparking,” I cut him off.

“How?” he asked.

“It was Celestia,” I answered, leading the way down the path. “I got to her a few minutes after you left. She said somepony had gotten into some kind of accident, but was recovering. I took my own initiative on finding out ‘who’.”

“Yeah, he’s okay,” he said. “Well, as ‘okay’ as a pony can be after being hit by a carriage. Everypony’s alive. Luckily he was outside Quick Silver’s shop, so he got paramedics got there almost immediately. Speaking of Quick Silver’s shop, notice anything new?”

I looked over him. His armor was already returned to the guard barracks, so it was not that. His mane, while looked purpler in this light, had not been cut or styled in any way. When in doubt, take notice of the stance; he stood tall, sticking his chest out.

A dark purple ribbon was around his neck, holding up a ring. The ring itself was quite interesting. It was made of gold with silver decorating its sides. The gem seemed to change color. No, a miniature storm was raging inside. It was strange to see a Pegasus with a ring, seeing as only Unicorns can actually wear them.

“You got new jewelry,” I commented.

“You don’t know?” he asked, tilting his head. “Haven’t you seen a storm gem before?”

“Of course I have,” I replied. “I knew the first ever gem expert in Equestria. She created Storm Gems by enchanting them with lightning magic.”

“I figured something like that,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Only Unicorns can wear rings, so those without horns have to use other jewelry to propose. Pegasai use Storm Gems, though it can be anything from a necklace to an earring.”

“Makes sense,” I nodded. Then I paused and tilted my head. “Wait a second.”

He burst out into laughter. I suspect I had some sort of dumbfounded expression on my face. I tried finding something to actually say other than ‘Wait, what?’.

“Am I right to assume that you only knew about Unicorn proposal traditions?” he wondered, still laughing.

“Well, I…” I tried to answer. “I know about Zebra engagements from Zircon.”

“Zircon?” he asked. “You said he’s the prince in Zebrica?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “When he proposed to Zarnie, he used her tradition. Over there they use jewelry with a carving of their partner’s Cutie Mark. That was a pain in the butt for him to make!”

“Well usually it would be,” he said.

“Well yeah, but comparatively…”I protested. “Zebra Cutie Marks are different than other ponies; they still get them like any other pony, but they look like a new pattern of stripes. My friend Zecora’s is a spiral with shapes around it, almost looking like a sun. Her talent is using herbs and such to make potions, which to Zebras is considered o be magic, so her talent is magic.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed that from a sun,” he commented.

“Exactly!” I laughed. “Their Cutie Marks have their own language, you would need to know that language to know what it means, and they see it as easily as we can see each other’s marks. But their style of marks make them easy to carve onto jewelry. But Zircon is only half Zebra.

“Really?” he asked. “Well I guess I haven’t seen him so I’d never know.”

“He is I the city now so you might see him tomorrow,” I told him. “It is easy to tell if you see him because Zebras are not Unicorns.”

“That’s kind of how it works,” he replied.

“I sound like an idiot tonight,” I sighed. “His mom’s parents were a Unicorn and a Pegasus, she was a Unicorn who married a Zebra. Wavechaser looks like her mother, brown mane and blue coat, but she is a Pegasus. Zircon is a Unicorn, but he inherited his father’s Zebra coat, so he looks like a Zebra with a Unicorn horn. And as I was saying with Cutie Marks, his is like ours, not like a Zebra’s. It is kind of hard to carve a teacup and leaves into jewelry, at least compared to carving a stylized eye.”

“Teacup?” he chuckled. “I’d have expected something a little more political for somepony running the place.”

“Talents do not have any say in what a pony can or cannot do,” I reminded him. “After all, Celestia’s talent is the sun, not being a ruler. Though Zircon’s talent does have to do with politics, in a way. He is good at getting ponies on his side, letting them know that their concerns are validated, whatever they may be. I have seen him work. The first thing is a greeting, talking to them as a pony instead of as someone that needs something. Offer them a drink, perhaps an already prepared cup of tea, hot but cool enough to drink. He gets to know them, makes them comfortable around him. Of course, this is not an act. He does it all sincerely.”

“Why did you only know the two methods for proposal?” he asked.

“Well, I had only seen those two,” I answered.

“Of course,” he agreed. “By the way, Pegasai are the only ones who use Storm Gems. Earth Ponies use a set of two identical necklaces. Designs vary, but it is always one gem in a silver necklace with another gem in a gold necklace. During the ceremony the couple swaps gems.”

“Interesting,” I mused. “Congratulations, by the way. Though ‘after being hit by a carriage’ is not the ideal time to propose.”

“Sparky said he was going to do it next Saturday,” he grinned. “But he kind of had to now. Quick Silver’s shop is more expensive than others, but it’s the only one in Canterlot that makes things with Storm Gems. He had gone there to pick it up this morning and was going to keep it a secret until he actually asked me. “

“Did he say how he was going to do it?” I asked.

“He did, actually,” he laughed. “It was a recreation of our first date, a candle lit dinner under the stars in the waterfall park. We’d talk and laugh and act like idiots. Well I guess it wouldn’t be an exact reenactment. After all, the night sky has changed, though its increased beauty probably would enhance the whole thing, and after the first date we didn’t-“

He stopped there, both in word and movement. Well, the movement was because we had just passed through the gate to town, and his destination was down to the left while mine was a block forward. It was not until I saw the blush creep into his face that I realized what he was about to say.

“On the first date you did not what?” I teased, a stupid grin plastered on my face.

“It’s times like this that I remember it,” he chuckled gaining a just a goofy smile. “I’m friends with a princess! I am talking to a princess about my stallionfriend. I about to say stuff about that to a princess.”

“That one will get you places!” I laughed. “Just tell ponies ‘I was about to tell a princess about my sexlife without being completely drunk off my flank!’ If it makes you feel better, seven Direct Royals laughed at a ‘finishing first’ inuendo this afternoon.”

“Society is weird,” he said. “And on that note, I should go see Sparking.”

“I figured you would,” I replied. “I need to meet my friends for dinner anyway. Tell Sparking I said congratulations. On the engagement, not to being hit by a carriage.”

“I’ll tell him!” he exclaimed, actually snorting with laughter. “And you can tell your friends that we say ‘hello’.”

“I will!” I answered as he ran into the night. Storm Gems, I had not thought of those in years. Tornata used to love them. I would bet a number of bits that Hurricane started the tradition when he proposed to her.

I stopped before I entered the restaurant. Was that jewel I saw tied to Derpy’s bag a Storm Gem? I could not remember her mention a new stallion in her life, or even a new mare, and if it was from somepony new, she would be wearing it on her, not tying it to her bag. I smiled at the thought. Ocean Light was going to marry her. I am glad there are stallions that would stick around in those situations.

“Welcome back to Sweet N’ Savory,” the hostess said as I entered the door. Her green mane was tied into a simple ponytail, and a spot of what I suspected to be the soup of the day stood out against her yellow coat.

“Good evening, Sweet Grass,” I replied. “Your bother is in the kitchen today? I thought it was your turn?”

“Normally it is,” she nodded. “But with the wedding coming tomorrow, all of your family is showing up and their guests-“

“Let me guess,” I groaned. “Griffons and Dragons showing off by eating meat?

“You guessed it,” she sighed. “Savory’s the only pony outside of the royal kitchen who can even stomach the idea of cooking meat. I’m going crazy trying to keep the other customers calm. I put what I can at outside tables, but they just-ugh.”

“Tell the others that they are just showing off,” I told her. “Also, keep a fire extinguisher on hoof, and do not be afraid to charge them for any damages.”

“You think they’ll-!” she gasped, hooves coming to her mouth.

“Probably on accident,” I assured her. “Pony furniture is not sturdy enough to handle a drunk griffon leaning on it.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I should be the one helping you, though. Would you like to join them, or would you like your own table?”

“Oh, no thanks,” I replied. “I am here with a different group who should already be here. It was a party of eight.”

“Right outside,” she replied.

“I can find my way then,” I smiled. “Thank you.” I walked past her through the rows of tables. I nodded to the window into the kitchen where an orange maned stallion was cooking something that required a lot of fire. I did not care much for the smell, and I have no idea how Stormcloud and Firetrail can handle that every day. I waved as I passed their table, and made sure my expression told them to tone it down.

“Over here!” Applejack shouted when I walked out the door. I watched as Rarity reprimanded her for shouting in a restaurant. I did a head count, one was missing. No, two were missing. The presence of a lavender waitress threw me off.

“Where are Twilight and Spike?” I asked. “They should have been the first ones here.”

“I told her a later time,” Rarity admitted. “I knew we all would be late, and she would be quite early, so I evened it out. They should be here soon.”

I sighed. Giving the waitress my order and Twilight’s regular, I pulled out the stack of letters. The first few were party invitations; one was from Blueblood, which I would not be going to. Or maybe I would go, and bring Rarity to spite him. The strange one in the stack was a light blue one, a wax seal of a winged lightning bolt on it.

“OH my gosh!” Rainbow exclaimed, grabbing the letter out of my magic. “This is a Wonderbolt seal! You’re getting letters from the Wonderbolts?”

“Appearently,” I said. I opened the letter, curious of its contents.

“Maybe it’s a party invitation!” Pinkie suggested.

“It is from Soarin,” I smiled as I scanned its words. “He is looking for a friend of mine he met at the Gala.”

“That wasn’t the best first impression,” Fluttershy whispered.

“Let me guess,” Rainbow interjected. “He’s looking for that amazingly awesome mare that preformed tricks for his friends, and wants her to join the team!”

We all rolled our eyes a bit at that one. I continued scanning the letter. It said he had seen her first at the Young Fliers competition, then again at the Gala.

“So you’ve talked to him before,” Rainbow tried again.

“Let me tell you the one thing that keeps me sane during Canterlot Parties,” I said. “I rarely have anything alcoholic, and when I do it is maybe two drinks throughout the night. But somepony else always drinks too much and gets quite interesting. About two years back, Soarin had a few too many at some party we were both at because he just ended his relationship with B-er the pony he was seeing at the time. He is quite talkative when drunk. If I had a bit for every single thing he told me he and his ex did in their ‘alone time’, I might have doubled my bank account.”

“Lesser ponies would use it for blackmail,” Rarity smiled.

“At least my entertainment is not like what Tia does,” I retorted. “She pushes what she can do and say before somepony corrects her. I think her record is twenty minutes with a sober pony, eight for a drunk one. Speaking of drunk, I bet Soarin was when he wrote this, an probably at the Gala too, since to anypony else it would be obvious to see that the mare he is looking for is an Apple.”

I could see the surprise on their faces as they took that in. Applejack’s face was as red as her brother’s. As for Rainbow, her wings were in a defensive position. Her affection for the stallion was more from idolization instead of genuine romance, something she had for all the Wonderbolts, so she let it go rather quickly.

“So why’s he going through you instead of me?” Rainbow asked me, settling her wings. “Wouldn’t contacting a potential recruit make more sense than a princess?”

“He might now know you two know each other,” I commented, putting the letter away. “I would have been at the Young Flyers Competition whether or not you were competing. It could be easy to assume she was only with me. The same goes with the Gala. It would be easy for him to believe that you got in there on your own. Both you and Soarin both lived in Cloudsdale, while you might not have know one another, you were conscious of the other’s presence. Somepony from Cloudsdale is much more likely to get into the Gala than somepony from Ponyville. The real question is if he will follow through with this infatuation when he learns that she is his ex’s cousin.”

“Wait!” She exclaimed, turning to Applejack. “You had a cousin date a Wonderbolt, and you never mentioned it?”

“Nopony has,” Applejack replied, still colored red. “There ain’t no secrets in mah’ family. If he had been with one of ‘em, we would’ve known. Hard t’ keep anythin’ secret with us, ‘specially if it was someone famous.”

“Well that is exactly why they broke up,” I laughed. “Neither of them were okay with keeping the relationship secret. Soarin would have been okay with them going public, but since it was…. Well, your family is… how do I put this? A good chunk of your family does not like same-sex relationships.”

There came a sound of confusion. It was followed by a collective ‘oh’ from everypony. I laughed even harder.

“I didn’t know he was into stallions,” Rarity said.

“Me neither,” Rainbow added.

“How did Rainbow Dash, the Wonderbolt’s number one fan, not know that one of its top members was bisexual?” I asked. “If it was secret I would understand, but he has been out for years, before he even applied at the Wonderbolt Academy.

“Well other ponies’ sexlives don’t pop up that often!” she exclaimed.

“You sure?” I asked. “This is the third conversation about somepony’s sexlife I have been in today. Fourth if you count an innuendo.”

“So which one of my cousins is it?” Applejack asked.

“A.J., I am not going to-“I began.

“Ah’ know you’re gonna say Ah’ shouldn’t butt in,” she cut me off, “But whoever it is, they’re family.”

“She almost said his name,” Rainbow interjected. “When you were talking about how you found out about this you started to say a name. It begins with a ‘B’.”

“There’s a lot, but it helps,” she said. “Let me see, outa just the stallions in his age range there’s Baddow, Bailey, Belmont, Blackjon and Blacktwig, Braddick, Braestar, Braeburn-“

“I am not telling you!” I stopped her. “I now you want to help him, but this is not the way! I have talked to him since I found out, and he specifically asked me not to tell anypony. If it eases your mind, I will send a letter encouraging him to talk to you about it. But I will not break that promise.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “Ah’ can respect promises.”

“I’m glad Spike was still with Twilight for that,” Fluttershy whispered. “Not that it would be bad if he heard about it. But I mean, he’s still a baby dragon after all.”

“Not really,” I chuckled.

“Did I miss his birthday!” Pinkie screamed, reminding us of her presence. The waitress came back with our orders. I had a taste for grilled cheese and tomato soup after my conversation with Derpy. It really was perfect for a cold night.

“Spike’s birthday is not for another few months,” I assured Pinkie. “Ponies just think that dragons age differently than they actually do. They still age different compared to ponies, but it is a little more complicated. The first few years after hatching a dragon ages twice as fast as a pony though actuall measurements vary from dragon to dragon. It slows down to about the same as a pony by the time they hit the equivalent of twelve. Then when adulthood hits it slows down even more to about one pony year every ten years, and usually live to be anywhere from seven to nine hundred, though I hear the record is twelve thousand.”

“So how old is Spike?” Fluttershy asked. “And how big will he get?”

“He was hatched about six years ago,” I replied, “which puts him pretty close Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, give or take a few months. Though for his size, that is a different question. Dragons seem big, but they are actually around the size of a pony most of the time, they just stand on their back legs. The large form we are used to is either a battle form or a dragon that has been consumed by greed.” They all shuddered at remembering that incident.

“So if dragons age like ponies, is Spike going to go through dragon puberty soon?” she wondered. Just the thought made them shudder again.

“Fairly soon!” I answered. “It will not be that bad, other than his full size and his fire breath, it will be similar to any colt going through it. There is even a special talent involved!”

“Dragons don’t have Cutie Marks,” Rarity stated.

“Correct,” I agreed. “But they still have a special talent. The whole culture around that is pretty interesting.”

“More interesting than our culture about Cutie Marks?” she asked.

“Well it starts with how they are raised,” I explained. “They are raised by the community, everyone is involved in each child’s life. When they hatch, they are given a name based on a physical trait; Spike’s name, while a coincidence, is a perfect example, more are names like ‘ScarletEyes’ or ‘LongTail’. When they learn their special talent, they get another name. If the talent is music, they might be named ‘Rhythm Longtail’ or ‘Sweet Melody Scarleteyes’.”

“Maybe he could join my sister on their ‘crusades’,” Rarity smiled. "So if he's that old, why is he still taking naps like a little kid? I know Sweetie hasn't had to take a nap in years."

“Yes, well, that is actually a problem,” I stated. “Dragons do have some magic, like their fire breath and battle mode, but they need to be taught to control it. And considering how few ponies can do Dragon magic, and even fewer that know how, he will need a teacher.

"The reason he is tired," I continued, "is because he keeps using magic without realizing it. Unicorns can use magic from birth, but other than fire breath, Spike's only had magic for maybe the last few years. And it is similar to a baby Unicorn, in that all he knows is what he wants to happen. I've seen him make himself lighter or heavier, and he seems to have an impact resistance spell down pretty well. Biggest thing is a mind spell that is going almost constantly; it makes his brain work faster, which is needed to keep up with Twilight."

“Speaking of Twilight,” Rainbow interrupted. I looked up to see both Twilight and Spike walking toward us. While Spike sat between Pinkie and Applejack, Twilight walked up to the bar counter. I saw her do something I never thought she would do: order a drink. It was a simple fruity pink thing without much alcohol in it, but it made a statement to us. I glanced at the others and we all had the same look of ‘she must be having a really freaking bad day for that.”

“Bet I can guess what you’re all thinking,” Twilight stated, slamming her glass on the table as she sat between Fluttershy and me. “Cadence is the absolute worst bride-to-be ever!”

“Who, me?” Spike mocked in a high pitched voice, pulling out the little figurine from the cake.

“Twilight, whatever are you talking about?” Rarity asked her as Applejack reprimanded Spike. “She’s an absolute gem!”

“That she is!” I laughed at the joke she did not know she made.

“Rarity, she was so demanding!” Twilight said.

“Well of course she is!” she replied. “Why shouldn’t she expect the very best on her wedding day?

“Applejack!” Twilight exclaimed, turning to her. “Did you know that after she told you she ‘love-love-loved’ your hors devours, she threw them in the trash?

“She was probably just tryin’ to spare my feelings,” Applejack said.

“No, she was just being fake and totally insincere!” Twilight practically shouted.

“She did raise her voice at one of my birds during rehearsal,” Fluttershy offered.

“See?” Twilight insisted. “Rude!”

“But he was singing really off-key,” she defended. The bird in question landed on her foreleg. Instead of singing, it let out an awful shriek that made even ponies a table away jump.

“Pinkie Pie, you have to have noticed how cadence treated-,” Twilight stopped when she saw that Pinkie was playing with Spike and the cake toppers instead of listening. “Never mind. Rainbow Dash, you’re with me, right?”

”Sorry Twi,” Rainbow answered. “Been too bust prepping for my sonic rainboom to pay much attention to the bride’s bad attitude.”

“Feria, you’ve known her for years,” Twilight said, turning to me next. “You have to know what she’s like.”

“I have not talked to her today,” I admitted. “But your ‘rose tinted glasses’ were not too far off. She is just like she has always been; sweet and kind, always wanting to help, and a little mischievous. Then again, she is also a little bit of a perfectionist, not as bad as you, but enough that she is probably just trying to make sure the wedding she dreamed of is coming true.”

“Exactly,” Rarity agreed. “The princess is about to get married. I’m sure any negative behavior she might be displaying is simply the result of nerves.” I had to hold onto my meal to keep if from spilling when Twilight slammed her hoof on the table.

“And I’m sure it’s the result of being an awful pony who doesn’t even deserve to know Shining Armor, let alone marry him!” She shouted.

“Think maybe you’re bein’ just a tiny bit possessive of your brother?” Applejack suggested. That seemed to set her off.

“I am not being possessive!” she screamed. “And I am not taking it out on Cadence! You’re all just too caught up in your wedding planning to notice that maybe there shouldn’t even be a wedding!”’ she slammed her hooves on the table again, storming off.

The rest of our meal was eaten in near silence. Soon we all went back to the castle, as there was not much time to introduce the family. We followed Rarity up to the workshop, Spike falling asleep on the way. We were all worried about Twilight and what she might do.

The dress Rarity had made for me was simple. It was almost completely black, nearly the same color as my coat. The trim was red and there was one ruby on the chest. It was simple, it blended with me. It was quite perfect, really; I would still look great, but I would not stand out when net to Cadence.

As I stepped into the dress, I looked over the wedding dress she had made. The chest piece was gold, purple ribbons sown on. The skirt was fluffed out, with multiple layers and gold on the edge of each; the veil was attacked to a crown made up of white and blue flowers.

“Is that why Twilight said Cadence was demanding?” I asked. “No wonder she wanted it changed! Not what I would expect from you at all!”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked. “That’s what she wanted it changed to. I had an original dress planned, but when I showed her the sketch she asked me to make it like that. Then when Twilight was up here she asked for a few more changes. It’s not what I would have put her in, but she’ll still look incredible on her wedding day.”

“Do you still have the sketch?” I wondered.

“I do,” She levitated a picture in front of me. It was interesting. The veil was made of roses, and the chest was simpler, only two sections and a front decoration. Two layers were in the skirt, a short one with a colored trim and a fully white one that would trail out behind her for the length of another pony and a half. A ribbon was attached to the back of the dress. No color had been added but she indicated the chest to be blue and gold, the ribbon was pink, the flowers yellow and white, and the skirt’s trim was gold.

“She wanted to change this!”I exclaimed. “It is perfect! It is exactly what she wanted!”

“I guess she changed her mind,” Rarity shrugged.

“She could not have changed it!” I insisted. “She has been planning this wedding for years. When I was younger I would read her diary, which yes, that is mean to do but I was little, let me have some leeway. She sketched out the dress, and had multiple pictures from magazines in it, and this is nearly perfect to what she dreamed of!”

“I guess she wanted something else,” she said, though I could hear some uncertainty in her voice.

“Hey Applejack,” I turned my head to her. “When Cadence visited you in the kitchen, what did she say about the food?”

“She said she ‘love-love-loved’ them,” she answered.

“Just that?” I asked. “No going on about the different ingredients she could taste, or the how it felt on her tongue or any specifics?”

“No. just that she loved them,” She repeated. That is strange. When complimenting a dish, she always made sure to point out exactly what she liked. It was a way to show a chef how much you really liked it.

“Any input on the dress?” Rarity asked, pulling me back to the situation.

“None about the dress,” I answered. “But do you have my bag? There is something in there.”

She pointed with her hoof to the corner of the room. I pulled with my magic, grabbing the box with the tiara inside. Rarity was quick to realize what it was, using her magic to braid my mane over my right shoulder. I set the tiara on my head, and she added two dark pink roses behind my ears.

I was about to tell her how perfect it was when a guard walked in. I had not seen a full-uniform Lunar Guard in quite a while. She was a Unicorn. The armor had a similar spell to the Solar Guard, changing their colors to be more uniform, but Luna had her theatrics. Instead of just changing their mane to dark blue and their coat to gray the blue colored armor changes other things. Their ears become tufted and their pupils are daggers; On a Pegasus, the enchantment would make their wings appear bat-like.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have a message from Princess Celestia for all of you.” I recognized her, but something seemed off. I think her voice was a little different, but I shrugged off the idea, saying she probably had just been recovering from a cold of sorts.

“I thought Tia would be asleep by now,” I laughed.

“Oh, well, I wouldn’t know about that, Princess Feria” she replied, giving me a small bow. “Princess Celestia has asked me to inform you that the bridesmaids for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’s wedding have been gotten rid of. I wasn’t told why. Princess Celestia suggested to her that since you all have been working so hard on this, you could stand in for them.”

“We get to be the new bridesmaids!” Fluttershy exclaimed. I could see Rarity nearly faint with excitement, stopping herself when the realization of how much work she had to do hit her. The guard excused herself and left the room, bowing to me again as she left.

“And Twilight was worried that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was some jerk,” Applejack chuckled.

“I noticed that,” I stated. “You keep referring to her with her full title. Why are you not just calling her ‘Cadence”? Or at least ‘Princess Cadence’?”

“She insisted on it,” she explained. “When she came to the kitchens, ah’ greeted her just as ‘Princess’, but she told me to call her ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’.”

“That is defiantly not normal,” I said. I levitated the crown off of my head. “I am going to check on something.”

I took the dress off, giving it back to Rarity, and hurried out the door. My head swiveled, looking for the guard. She was fast, already at the end of the hall.

“Wait up!” I shouted to her. “I wanted to ask you something!”

“Oh! Er- Yes, Princess,” She answered, stopping for me to catch up.

“Has Cadence returned to her room for the night?” I asked.

“I believe she has,” she replied. “Is that all, Princess Feria?”

“You know, Valor, you can refer to me just as ‘Feria’,” I replied.

“You know my name!” she exclaimed.

“I know most guards’ names,” I told her. That was incredibly suspicious. I had talked to Valor many times, so why would knowing her name now be strange? Looking into the Realm of Souls, I saw gold where pink should be.

“Anything else, Princess?” she asked.

“No, nothing else,” I replied. “Thank you, Valor.”

I ran down the opposite hall. I had to find Cadence. She was acting strange, and that guard was not Valor. The Valor thing could be coincidence; there could be a similar looking guard with the first half of Valor Knight’s name, but I doubted it greatly.

I stood in front of a large door, painted pink with a large blue heart in its center. I took a breath, planning out what I would do, then knocked. It opened to a familiar face. I had not seen Cadence since I got back my memories of my previous life, and it was truly astounding how much she looked like Azura both had a pink coat, both had a purple, pink, and gold mane, they even had blue hearts for Cutie Marks, though Cadence’s had golden ornaments on hers. The only real difference between them was the lack of black in her mane, and the fact that Azura’s eyes were blue.

“Good evening, Cadence,” I smiled. She backed up a few steps, and I took it as an invitation to walk in.

“Feria! Wha- how do you- I don’t!” she stammered, closing the door. That is strike one. “Please come in. And it’s ‘Mi Amore Cadenza’.”

“I thought you were only using that name for servants, not family,” I teased.

“I decided that since I am taking on responsibilities as princess soon, I should use my full title. I would like to be addressed as this by all,” she replied. That is strike two.

“I am so very sorry to inturupt you,” I said, “But I had a question that kept nagging at the back of my mind. Why tomorrow? You could have any day for a wedding, a day when Canterlot is not under a major threat alert, leaving your fiancé to be completely free for the time. Why did you choose this day? It is not like anypoy would charge you for canceling the catering.”

“I chose this day before the threat was made,” she answered, rolling her eyes. “Why would I want to change it for some threat that probably won’t even happen? Besides, Shining gets his time off for the wedding anyway, why does it matter to us?”

“And that is strike three,” I sighed. “Can we stop pretending that you are actually Cadence? It is getting quite old, and I would prefer you told me who you really are before I try to find out.”

“What makes you think I’m not me?” the false Cadence asked.

“Simple, really!” I laughed. “Cadence spent so many years asking to not be called by her full title, that she would never tell anypony to call her by that name, even when she wanted to take on duties. Secondly, the reason the wedding has to be tomorrow is not because of a diva ‘I chose this, I should get it’. Tomorrow would have been her deceased parents’ wedding anniversary.

“Furthermore,” I continued. “You reacted to me. This also gives me a hint to who you are. You recognized me on sight, but not as the Feria Cadence knows. You acted the same way both Luna and Discord did when seeing me; You were surprised, not only that I am here, but that I even exist! So you are someone I knew from back then, and you must be immortal. Nine Immortals, four completely dead, one resurrected, one turned to stone, two ruling the country, but where is the ninth?”

“Clever girl,” she mused.

“So tell me, Chryssi, why are you pretending to be Cadence?” I asked.

“That is a tale for another time,” she answered. “Guard! Come in here!” The door opened again, as Valor stepped through. I could see something was off about her this time.

“And you are not Valor,” I told her.

“No, I’m not, but I can be somepony else,” the fake-guard replied. A flash of gold light enveloped her body; her armor disappeared as her coat grew darker. Her blue mane grew out to bright red. I was soon looking at a copy of myself.

“Nice trick, but my friends know me enough to see through an act,” I retorted.

“Nice trick, but my friends know me enough to see through an act,” she mimicked. “Not too bad, am I? Besides, I sleep tonight, go through the rehearsal tomorrow, and by then we won’t need to do this anymore.”

“So whatever you are doing has something to do with the wedding,” I guessed. “Here is a question. How do you plan on keeping me away from anpony?”

“That’s easy,” the false Cadence replied. Her horn lit a brilliant green definitely not Cadence’s light blue. Flames appeared in a ring around my hooves. I was sinking into the floor. I tried to teleport out of it, or even counteract her spell, but nothing was working. Lower and lower I sank until I could not see anything.

When I could see again, it was completely different. I was surrounded by crystals. I knew about the crystal caverns, but I had never traveled further than the main cavern at the entrance. This seemed to be a separate room, no doors or hallways out, just walls of crystal.

“What? No casual villain monologue?” I shouted at the ceiling. Nothing in reply, not even evil laughter.

I looked around the room, trying to find some small space or secret passageway out of here. I could not teleport out, not even to the next room. I tried the Realm of Souls; there was no way out, yet I smiled at what I found. Somepony else was down here, the only problem was getting to her.

I lit my horn and tried a blast of energy. It ricocheted all over, hitting nearly every crystal before returning and scorching the ground at my feet. I tried again, this time charging the blast. It went through the wall completely, shaking the cavern and dropping a bit of rubble down, but the walls remained stable.

“That was lucky,” I laughed. The mare I noticed earlier was cowering on the opposite wall, face hidden by her hooves. Her multi-hued mane was disheveled, and the gold chest piece and shoes she were scuffed and unpolished, like she has been down here a while.

“Don’t hurt me!” the mare shouted. “Please, just-!”

“Calm down!” I said. “Cadence, it is alright. I am me.” She uncovered her eyes and looked up, I could see suspicion in her eyes.

“They can imitate anypony,” she reminded me. “How do I know you’re you?”

“Well for starters,” I replied. “I know that you are you and not the imposter upstairs.”

“But so would any of them,” she retorted. “Tell me something only the real Feria would know.”

“Does that mean ‘only me’ or ‘only somepony who knows you well’?” I asked. I sighed and began thinking up thing I knew about her, things that would not be found just by watching her. “You started foalsitting Twilight as an excuse to talk to Shining Armor, whom you had developed a crush on in class.”

“It took me way too long to learn not to keep secrets in a diary,” she sighed. “What are you even doing down here?”

”I figured out that the mare up there was not you,” I answered. “I confronted her, and she thought me to be enough of a threat that she sent me here. Lucky for us, Twilight is on the trail to knowing the one up there is a fake, though she has no idea what she is up against.”

“And what are we up against?” she asked.

“They are called Changelings,” I told her. “They can use magic to take on the form of any other pony. In particular, we are dealing with an Immortal; the most powerful Changeling and their leader. Her name is Chrysalis. As to why, I am in the dark. Last I knew we were on great terms, but it was two thousand years ago.”

“That would make a lot less sense if Celestia hadn’t told me about you,” she sighed.

“I guess that makes sense,” I said. “As for now we should probably sleep. We cannot get far on lack of sleep.”

“Right,” she agreed. She curled up where she was, like she had already been asleep when I burst through the wall. She was shivering. I guess it was cold in here.

I thought of starting a fire, but that would only last until I fell asleep. I walked over to a large gem in the floor, and I kicked it until it fell over. It dropped with a clatter, startling Cadence out of what comfort she had.

“What are you doing?” She exclaimed as I levitated the gem closer to her.

“You are cold,” I explained. I used a flame spell on the crystal, charging it with magic. When I was done it radiated heat. It lit up the room as well, but that was a small price to pay.

“Thanks,” she said, settling back in to sleep.

I laid down as well, though I was not going to sleep at first. I was going to try to do something I had never done before. I slipped into the Realm of Souls, and forced my way into the Dreamworld alone.

It was completely different from when I was with Luna. With her, the Dreamworld organized itself into a large castle, with every door leading to another dream. This was a complete mess. I could see magical energy that was somepony’s dream, but when I touched the closest one, I felt that it belonged to Braeburn, who was all the way in Appleoosa.

Maybe it was his dream in front of me because, out of the ponies that were asleep, he was the last I had thought of. I tried thinking of Sweetie Belle, wondering if I could get the Dreamworld to take me to her dream. Nothing moved. The dream in front of me still felt like Breaburn.
Luna had said that she was the one to organize this world, so I assume she has to be here for it to make sense. She was guarding Canterlot by night, which meant that as long as the threat was up, she sleeps during the day, leaving the Dreamworld alone. I would not find her here; I cannot tell her what is going on. I do not know if I could even find the dream of somepony in Canterlot, much less the dream of somepony that could help.

I sighed, coming back to reality. We would have to find our way tomorrow, and we have to do it before the wedding actually happens. I let myself drift to sleep, worried about how this would play out.

Author's Note:

Edit a chapter while on cold medicine and lollipops. What could go wrong?