Rez: Eqstr[Tera]

by NiGHTcapD

17: Phrase

I am rather confused.

I took a brief opportunity to split up from Twilight, who is currently helping keep Applejack (and the rest of the catering squad) on track (though not before synesthesia-synthesizing taste bud sensations of some of the food). Always good to rerun diagnostics every hour or so. As I scan the barrier from a high vantage point, I watch as Cadance walks in to the kitchen...I get the feeling that something's up with Cadance, but for the life of me, I can't tell what. Not yet, at any rate.

She walks out, pauses, notices me, looks up-and sneers. Why.

By the time I was done, Twilight had also come out, looking up at me with irritation all over her face. My simple response had been to shrug. Now, I go down to check on AJ-but my eyes catch on the waste bin.

"Uh...did you give anyone a doggy bag for anything?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's in the wastebasket."

Applejack paused for a moment to think about it. "Eh, Cadance probably realized she wouldn't be able to have any with all the running around she's probably doing."

Uh, I thought we were the ones setting up the thing. I could be mistaken. Though, she could just be checking up on everyone... Another thing that didn't add up. But she could have waited to throw the bag out either way. That's no good either. "Hm...food for thought."

"Still practicing?"

"Of course!" Rainbow Dash is not giving herself a break. "First time I pulled it off, I had no idea what was happening...second time, it was to save Rares and the Wonderbolts. I'm practicing so that I can pull it off at the drop of a hat."

"Makes sense." No less than four times have I bugtested a program, when it does something I want...only to not know how I made it happen. Gets irritating, but there's much relief to be had in making it work the right way. "You know...mind if I bounce something off you?"

"Kinda won't be able to hear you over the sound of wooshing air..." *woosh*

"Then I'll just pretend you can hear me..." I proceeded to go in-depth of all the possibilities I was able to think of about what was up with the bride, and reasons for thinking each way.

I was so caught up in talking that I almost missed it when Rainbow interrupted me. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say egghead. I'm too tired to do any thinking for myself." Heh.

The next time she tried to do the trick, she cracked-but not shattered-the light spectrum, although it was invisible to the naked eye. My ears caught it, though, and I delivered positive encoura-wait, is that Cadance down there? She just-she just rolled her eyes!

I'm starting not to like this so-called princess.

Fluttershy and her birds are going over exercises and actual practices, and I'm helping out with my keyboard.

"What do you think about Cadance?"

"Um...I haven't met her yet, but I've heard she's really nice."

"Don't believe everything you hear. Maybe there's a heart of gold somewhere in there, but from what I've seen she's kind of a jerk." *tweet chirp chirp chiiiirp* "You might want to get that tuned."

"Maybe she's just stressed? It is her big day..." Fluttershy says, as she singles out the bird singing slightly off-key. As she's offering advice, a certain guest stops by to check on things-"Oh, hello Princess. Care to listen to the choir?"

Probably a bad call, but I do nothing to stop it. "Suuure."

They sing again, but this time they go through a longer portion of the song. Cadance reacts very poorly when one of them goes out of tune, however, and she eventually snaps and yells at the offending avian. I snapped back, and we ended up arguing for about 3.2 minutes about who has the authority or methods to correct the bird, with her even asking me "What do you know about music?" which only left me too flabbergasted to continue.

I apologized to Fluttershy after Cadance left.

I watched from a table with Twilight's friends as Luna flew in through a hole in the barrier, which closed up afterwards. Diagnostics were delivered through my ears, but I turned them off as a certain purple pony approached.

"Bet I can guess what you're all thinking..." Twilight started in a sing-songy voice. "Cadance is the absolute worst bride-to-be ever."

Spike, who was playing with the plastic cake figures, responded, "Who, me?"

"Spike!" Applejack interrupted. "That goes on the cake."

"Heh-heh..."

"Twilight, whatever are you talking about? Cadance is an absolute gem!"

"Rarity, she was so demanding!"

"Well, of course she was! Why shouldn't she expect the very best on her wedding day?"

"Somehow I don't feel that fully explains, nor excuses her current behavior."

Twilight nods at that. "Applejack, did you know that after she told you how much she just 'love-love-loved' your hors d'eouvres, she threw them in the trash?"

Applejack thought for a moment, then said that yes, I had mentioned it to her. "She was probably just trying to spare my feelin's."

"Not the best way to go about it, then. She could have just waited and thrown them out somewhere else."

"She did raise her voice at one of my birds during rehearsal."

Twilight seized the opportunity. "See? Rude!"

"Admittedly, he was kind of off-key..." As proven by Fluttershy bringing the bird out, and it making sounds I dare not attempt to replicate in words. "Yyyeeeeeaaah. The argument I had with her about yelling, authority, and more was even more unpleasant, if you can believe me."

"At least somepony agrees with me. Pinkie Pie, you had to have noticed how Cadance treated–" She didn't finish, because Pinkie and Spike were too absorbed by the cake toppers to pay any attention whatsoever. "Never mind. Rainbow Dash, you're with me, right?"

"Sorry, Twi. Been too busy prepping for my sonic rainboom to pay much attention to the bride's bad attitude."

"URRRGH..."

Rarity attempted to comfort her fellow unicorn. "The princess is about to get married. I'm sure any negative behavior she might be displaying is simply the result of nerves."

"And I'm sure it's the result of being an awful pony who doesn't deserve to even know Shining Armor, let alone marry him!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

I was the one who broke the silence. "Overreaction much?"

"Think maybe you're bein' just a tiny bit possessive of your brother?" The entire table, save for me and Spike, colluded this point.

"I am not being possessive, and I am not taking it out on Cadance! You're all just too caught up in your wedding planning to notice that maybe there shouldn't even be a wedding!" After thumping the table, Twilight left in a huff.

"I take it back. That's an overreaction." While I agree with what she's saying, she's not exactly thinking straight right now. Maybe someone should keep her grounded in reality, or at least how we all want it to seem?

I hastily follow.