Rocinante and the Wedding at Canterlot

by Charliemane

Chapter 9

Slowly the world began to stop spinning and Sassaflash carefully stood up. Reaching out with a hoof, she could feel that the bubble that imprisoned her was gone, but without any light she couldn't tell anything about where she was.

“H-Hello?”

Her echo was the only voice that answered and soon Sassaflash felt her knees begin to knock as she stumbled around in the darkness.

“Is... Is anypony here?”

Suddenly a shrill, unnatural laugh answered back, echoing off of the walls around her. Sassaflash jumped as a pale green image of her cousin's face appeared on large piece of raw crystal ahead of her. But the hope caused by the sight of Rocinante was swiftly replaced with dread as a cruel grin spread across his face.

“Don't you recognize this place? These are the very crystal caverns your knight spoke so highly of. I must say they are making an excellent prison for everypony who gets in my way.”

“Who are you?! What do you want?!”

“Rocinante” took on a sudden look of surprise as his face disappeared from the crystal and reappeared on a crystal slate above her.

“You haven't figured it out yet? I'm the very 'agent' you and your knight have been looking for this whole time.”

The face disappeared and Princess Cadenza's face appeared on a crystal behind Sassaflash.

“It must be so embarrassing to realize that all this time you've been guarding the very 'foe' you've been trying to find!”

Sassaflash's jaw dropped as the laughing image of the fake princess appeared on all of the crystal's surrounding her.

“N-No... That's... how?”

Her breath grew shorter and shorter as she tried to back away from all of the laughing faces around her when suddenly they all disappeared, except for one image in the crystal in front of her which made her heart nearly stop.

It was now her own face that was grinning back at her.

“I really should thank you though. Sir... Rocinante was it? He is harder to impersonate that I thought. You however... well, nopony will think twice about a simple pony like you.”

“Wh-What are you going to do?”

“Oh don't worry, I'm sure that your princess will be happy to see you soon enough.”

The face disappeared with a cackling laugh that left Sassaflash with the crystals resonating in the dark.

Princess Luna sighed as she sat down in front of the mirror in her room. She looked like a total mess after stressing all night over the fight with her sister. Pulling out a brush and straightening her mane, Luna tried to go over everything in her mind again.

It didn't make sense that Sir Rocinante and Lady Sassaflash would leave Princess Cadenza unless ordered to, but Celestia certainly wouldn't lie to her about not giving them any orders.

With another sigh, Luna looked at her reflection. She had hoped Celestia would be at breakfast so that they could talk things out in a much more civilized manner, but Celestia never showed up. Was it because she didn't want to see her? Was it because she was too busy to deal with her now? Or too angry?

Luna fought back a tear as she closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath.

“She was my big sister, best friend, and mentor...

So why can I not even talk to her...”

The sudden knock at the door cause Luna to jump as she quickly cleared her voice and put the brush down on the table.

“Enter!”

To her surprise, Sassaflash walked in with a silver tray on her back.

“Good morning, Princess.”

“Ah Sassa! What brings thee here this morning? I trust that Princess Cadenza is well?”

Sassaflash nodded as she set the tray down on the table next to Luna's brush.

“Quite well, Your Highness. Sir Rocinante is with her as we speak, being the ever faithful guard that he is.”

Luna smiled as she looked over at the tray.

“It does me well to hear that the confusion regarding Princess Cadenza's escort has been resolved. What is this?”

Sassaflash smiled broadly as she motioned to the glass.

“I thought you might be thirsty, so I brought you some water. We have a big day today, getting ready for the wedding and everything. So we will all need to stay hydrated!”

Luna cocked an eyebrow towards Sassaflash as she magically lifted the glass off of the tray.

“Art thou feeling well, Sassa? For thy spirits seem unusually high this morning.”

Without waiting for a reply, Princess Luna raised the glass to her mouth and downed the water. Almost immediately she could tell something was wrong as Sassaflash approached her with an uncharacteristic smirk.

“Oh, I'm doing very well Your Highness.”

“Sassa... Nay... Who art thou?”

Luna suddenly felt remarkably dizzy as “Sassaflash” gave her only a slight push, that caused to princess to stumble back towards her bed. Blinking her eyes, Luna tried to clear her mind, but it was too late.

“Treachery!”

“Don't worry, dear Luna. I'm sure your knight will understand, you've been up all night and you need your rest.”

“What hast thou done with Sassa...flash... R-Rocinante...”

As her consciousness faded away Luna desperately tried to reach out, the poison acted too fast and soon she was sleeping peacefully, but deeply on the bed.

Queen Chrysalis smiled as she examined the results of her labor and readied her magic to produce a fitting cocoon for the sleeping princess.

“Two alicorns down, one to-”

The sudden sound of hooves on the stone stairs leading up to Princess Luna's room interrupted Chrysalis in the middle of her triumph. Thinking fast, she swiftly changed her disguise into a pony with the authority to tell whoever it was that was coming to go away.

“Ah! Fair Highness! How excellent to find you so quickly!”

“Princess Cadenza” grimaced towards the knight-errant who emerged happily from the staircase just outside the door that she had foolishly left open. Placing a hoof to her mouth, Princess Cadenza motioned for Rocinante to be quiet before scurrying out to meet him just outside the room.

“Shh... Princess Luna is sleeping right now. Best come back later when she's fully rested.”

Despite her strongest wishes, Rocinante did not leave, but instead bowed low and looked up at her.

“Ah! Alas, I cannot then complete one duty, but never fear, Fair Highness, Princess Celestia herself has asked me to also look for you and escort you to the wedding rehearsal.”

Princess Cadenza rolled her eyes as she looked back towards the sleeping Luna on the other side of the now closed door. The cocoon would have to wait until after the invasion. It was irritating, but not unacceptable. The poison should last well until after she had conquered Canterlot.

She had considered teleporting Rocinante to the crystal caverns with his squire, but a new and better thought came into her mind.

“You... haven't been tasked to escort me all day again have you?”

“Alas no, Fair Highness. My charge is to escort you unto the care of Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia. From there I am to depart and meet again with Her Noble Highness, Princess Luna, should she be awake, to convey Her Royal Highness's deepest regrets for the previous confusion regarding her Noble Grace's intent to protect Your Fair Highness and invite Her Noble Highness to meet with Her Royal Highness as soon as she is able.”

Princess Cadenza stared at Rocinante blankly for a moment before she finally shook her head.

“So that's a no?”

“Yes, Fair Highness.”

Chrysalis desperately wanted to send Rocinante to the caves below them immediately, but she resisted the temptation.

“Well, since Princess Luna is sleeping at the moment, could I ask you to do a favor for me?”

Rocinante bowed low, as he always did.

“Of course, Young Excellency. How might I be of service to you?”

Princess Cadenza smiled as she motioned out the window.

“You said you knew where the entrance to the crystal caverns was?”

Rocinante tilted his head slightly and forced a sheepish grin.

“Not exactly, Fair Highness. I do recall the descriptions from the old legends, but those are most noble accounts of olden times. While the scenery may not have changed too much-”

“Good. I want you to show my bridesmaids the caverns. They're waiting for you by the main gate and oh so excited to see the beauty of the crystals themselves.”

Rocinante looked between the stairs, leading down and to the reception hall, and the princess next to him.

“Fair Highness, your bridesmaids will be needed for the rehearsal, will they not?”

“They will not. You see, I only chose those particular bridesmaids for their... their martial skill. But Princess Celestia told me that she thinks the enemy might be using the caverns as a base of operations. So I was hoping you and my bridesmaids could form the first line of defense against their attack. Maybe even defeat the enemy right there!”

Rocinante looked at her curiously, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as his mind mulled over what the Princess had said.

“So when you said your bridesmaids wished to view the crystals...”

Princess Cadenza rolled her eyes and sighed.

“I was speaking in code!”

Rocinante's eyes swiftly began to widen in excitement for the prospect before him.

“I see! Ah ha! Very clever, Most Fair Highness! Fear not! We shall place such a tight grip upon the cavern's entrance, once it is located, that no pony will ever be able to slip by our grasp!”

At last the princess smiled.

“Excellent. But be careful, the enemy is reportedly an ingenious master of disguise... and beauty. She may take the form of me or even somepony you know. But no matter how convincing they may be, let no pony through.”

Rocinante saluted and spun on his hooves eagerly towards the door.

“Of course. I shall gather my noble squire and depart at once!”

“No!”

The knight-errant stopped immediately at the princess's sudden outburst.

“No?”

“I mean... Your squire... is... busy I'm sure. I doubt you will need her.”

With courteous bow, Rocinante gave a hearty laugh.

“You jest well, Young Excellency. But a knight is nothing without his noble squire! Dear Sassaflash has accompanied me through each battle until now. It would be the height of rudeness for me to leave her behind at the moment of our grandest triumph.”

Princess Cadenza gritted her teeth.

“I meant... I was speaking in code again. Your squire will be helping me with a no doubt dangerous... and... equally important task that... doesn't... require a knight like yourself.”

As the knight-errant looked at her with narrowed expression, Chrysalis began to pool her magic up inside of her. If this didn't work she would have to act fast to strike Luna's personal guard before he would be ready.

But Rocinante simply smiled and rose from his bow.

“I understand, Fair Highness. I wish you the best of luck and please, worry not for your most special of days. For you are guarded by the very best the Kingdom of Equestria and the forces of virtue and valor have to offer!”

As he turned and trotted eagerly out towards the castle grounds, Chrysalis suppressed a small chuckle of her own.

“Oh I know... I know...”

Comments

[Themaskedferret]

I'm really impressed and how well you've woven this story into what we knew about the wedding itself, this is amazing as always.