Seven Elements of Harmony

by Razor Blade the Unicron

A Troublesome Wedding Planned by Seven (Part One)

I casually laid on my back and looked towards the sky. There were a few clouds floating around, and Pinkie and I were pointing out shapes that we saw.

"That one looks like a paintbrush!" I said.

"I see one that looks like a cupcake!" said Pinkie.

"All I see are stray clouds that I can get rid of!" said Rainbow, stretching her wings.

"Aw, but we're having so much fun!" I said.

"I'm just gonna do my job and clear the sky in less than ten seconds!"

"Not unless I do it first!" I switched from Changeling forme to my pegasus forme and flew into the air.

"Hey!"

Rainbow also flew into the air after me, just as I had bucked one of the clouds. We cleared away the clouds in just a few seconds, and grinned at each other.

"Guys!" called Twilight, "We're going to have a relaxing picnic, not a competition!"

"We weren't having a competition!" said Rainbow as we landed in the ground.

"It was a race!" I said, "Wait, that's a type of competition..."

Twilight rolled her eyes and gently placed a picnic basket in the center of the blanket, and everypony settled in.

"Twilight!" called Spike, running up to us, breathing heavily, "Letter for you!" he held out a scroll towards Twilight.

Twilight picked up the scroll with her magic, opened it, and began reading it.

"Dear Twilight, I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot. Wedding? I will be presiding over the ceremony, but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for this wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music."

"Oh my goodness!" said Fluttershy, "What an honor!"

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

"Hip, hip, hooray!" cheered Pinkie.

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

"Well, color me pleased as punch!" said Applejack.

"Rainbow Dash," Rainbow yawned in boredom, "I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a Sonic Rainboom as the bride and groom complete their I do's."

"Awesome!" yelled Rainbow, looking a lot less bored.

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

"What?!?" cried Rarity, "Princess Celestia wants me to..." she trailed off in excitement, "...wedding dress? For a Canterlot wedding... I, ah, ooh, oooh!" Rarity fainted onto the picnic blanket.

"Crystal, you will be in charge of the decorations the ceremony.

"Yay!" I said happily.

"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 flipped the letter over and looked at the back of it in confusion, "But... I don't understand. Who's getting married?"

"Oh, wait!" said Spike, holding out another letter, "Uh, I was probably supposed to give you this one first."

"Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and-" Twilight let out a large gasp, "My brother?!?"

"Your brother's getting married?" asked Applejack, "Congratulations, Twilight! That's great news!"

"Yeah, great news..." said Twilight, sounding upset, "That I just got from a wedding invitation! Not from my brother, but from a piece of paper! Thanks a lot, Shining Armor. I mean, really, he couldn't tell me personally?" Twilight started mimicking what was presumably her brother's voice, "Hey, Twilight, just thought you should know I'm making a really big decision that changes everything. Oh, never mind, you'll hear about it when you get the invitation!" she switched back to talking normally, "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? Who in the hoof is that?!?"

"Um, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy, "Are you okay?"

"Sorry, it's just that Shining Armor and I have always been so close. He's my BBBFF!"

We all stared at Twilight.

"Big Brother Best Friend Forever?"

"Ohhhhhh!"

"Before I came here and learned the importance of friendship, Shining Armor was the only pony I ever really accepted as a friend..."

"As one of your PFF's," said Applejack, as we all stared at her, "Pony Friends Forever..."

"Ohhhhhh!"

"I wanna tell you that I think your brother sounds like a real good guy!"

"He is pretty special," said Twilight, "I mean, they don't let just anypony be captain of the Royal Guard!"

"EEEEE!!!" cried out Rarity in excitement, "So let me get this straight: we're helping out with the wedding of not only a princess, but a captain of the Royal Guard?"

"I guess we are."

Rarity fainted, yet again.

---

"A Sonic Rainboom? At a wedding?" said Rainbow excitedly, "Can you say 'best wedding ever'?"

"Best wedding ever!" yelled Pinkie, just as the train went through a cave.

"So you all get to help with the big fancy wedding, but I'm the one who gets to host the bachelor party!" said Spike, "I have just one question: what's a bachelor party?"

We all giggled at that, except for Twilight, who was staring out the window.

"Why the long face, sugarcube?" asked Applejack.

"I'm just thinking about Shining Armor," said Twilight, "Ever since I moved to Ponyville, we've been seeing each other less and less. And now that he's starting a new family with this 'Princess Mi Amore Ca-whatshername', we'll probably never see each other."

"Come on, now. You're his sister. He'll always make time for you!"

"Couldn't seem to make time to tell me he was getting married..."

As we approached Canterlot, I noticed a shining pink bubble surrounding it. I could tell that it was a shield spell, and became very anxious as we approached it. Just as we started going through it, I suddenly yanked the emergency brake, which stopped the train just as the barrier came up to me.

"Huh?" asked Twilight, looking away from the window, "Why'd we stop?"

"I can't go through this!" I said, putting a hoof on the barrier.

"What?" asked everypony, walking over to the barrier.

Twilight walked right through the barrier to the other side of it with the others, and looked confused.

"But why can't you go through it?" she asked, "And how did you know you couldn't?"

"Instinct." I said, answering the second question.

"Excuse me," said a Royal Guard who had come on to the train, "Is something wrong?"

"Our friend Crystal can't pass through the barrier," said Twilight, "Do you know how she can get through it?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know."

"That's alright," I said, "I'll just wait outside while you guys go get somepony to let me in."

The others nodded, and I got off the train with the Royal Guard. There was one other Royal Guard standing next to the train tracks besides the one who had just come onto the train. The train continued going down the track, and I saw my friends watching me nervously out the window.

"Why is their a huge barrier round the city?" I asked the guard next to me.

"A threat was made against Canterlot," he said, "So the barrier is a safety measure."

"Oh."

"And, uh, I don't mean to be rude to one of the Elements of Harmony, but I would suggest that you try not to look as... menacing."

I realized that I was still in Changeling forme, and quickly changed to my unicorn forme.

"How's that?" I asked the surprised guard.

"Whoa..." he said in surprise.

A few minutes later, Twilight came back following Princess Celestia.

"You cannot get through the barrier?" asked Princess Celestia.

I placed my hoof up against the barrier to demonstrate, but quickly pulled it away when I felt a slight sting.

"No, I can't," I said, "But you can get me through, right?"

"Yes, of course me can get you through it," said Princess Celestia, "Twilight, if you please."

"Yes, Princess!" said Twilight, her horn lighting up.

Twilight opened up a small section of the barrier with her magic, and I quickly ran through it. I smiled with relief, and turned towards Princess Celestia.

"You two may go," she said, "I just need to look at something."

"Okay!" Twilight and I said at the same time.

We walked back towards Canterlot, and I thought I heard a small buzzing sound.

"That was a rather eventful morning, wasn't it?" asked Twilight.

"It sure was," I said, trying to ignore the buzzing sound, "It sure was."

---

I held two rolls of pink and blue streamers in my magic that I was hanging up in the room where the wedding ceremony would take place. I had just finished putting streamers around the room when I heard two coughs from behind me. I quickly turned around to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza standing behind me with an impatient look.

"Oh, hello Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!" I said, bowing, "Did you want something, your majesty?"

She seemed to be quite happy about the way I had addressed her, and had the tiniest of smiles.

"I just came to check on the wedding decorations," she said, rather impatiently, "Why aren't they up yet?"

"I had..." for some reason, I didn't want to tell the Princess about the barrier preventing me from entering, "To talk with Princess Celestia about something, your highness."

"What did you talk with her about?" she asked, showing a bit of anger.

"Just about any magical side effects from Discord, Princess."

"Ah," she seemed to be annoyed by my answer, "Well, hurry up on the decorations. And make it more... royal."

"Sure thing, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!" I said as she left.

I turned back around to the decorations and continued to put them up. The small buzzing noise was back again, but I dismissed it as some sort of bug or magic. Just one fly or something wasn't important.

---

"Bet I can guess what you're all thinking!" said Twilight as we ate, "Cadance is the absolute worst bride-to-be ever!"

"Who, me?" asked Spike, holding a small cake decoration of the Princess.

"Spike!" said Applejack, "That goes on the cake!"

"Uh, I knew that."

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

"Rarity, she was so demanding!" said Twilight, who was clearly getting annoyed.

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

"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?"

"Aw, she was probably just tryin' to spare my feelin's." said Applejack.

"No, she was just being fake and totally insincere!" Twilight was getting even more upset now.

"She, uh, did raise her voice at one of my birds during rehearsal." said Fluttershy.

"See? Rude!"

"But he was singing really off-key..."

"Pinkie Pie, you had to have noticed how Cadance treated..." Twilight faded off when she saw Pinkie and Spike playing with the decorations that were supposed to be on top of the cake, "Never mind. Rainbow Dash, you're with me, right?"

"Sorry, Twi," said Rainbow, stretching out her wings, "Been too busy prepping for my sonic rainboom to pay much attention to the bride's bad attitude."

"What about you, Crystal?" asked Twilight, sounding a bit desperate, "You could clearly see how rude and grumpy she was!"

"Really?" I asked, "She just seemed confused as to why the decorations weren't up yet."

Twilight let out a groan, and Rarity patted her lightly on the back.

"The Princess is about to get married," she said, "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!" said Twilight angrily.

"Think maybe you're bein' just a tiny bit possessive of your brother?" suggest Applejack.

"Uh-huh." we all said simultaneously.

"I am not being possessive!" cried Twilight, "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!"

Twilight got up and walked off in frustration. I felt guilty for not supporting her, but Twilight was just suffering from some over-possessiveness and wedding-jitters. Spike suddenly breathed golden fire and delivered us a letter. We all waited a beat, before realizing that Twilight wasn't here to read it.

"I'll get it!" I said grabbing the letter in my magic and holding it up, "Dearest the Elements of Harmony, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's bridesmaids all had to leave on account of an important matter in their homes, and now she has no bridesmaids. I request that you six (as you, Twilight, are Shining Armour's best mare) step in to be her bridesmaids. Rarity, I hope you can do a few redesigns for you friends' dresses to make them look more like those of bridesmaids. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

"We get to be the bridesmaids?" asked Rarity, excited before becoming a bit nervous, "Oh, but your dresses need to redesigned! Let's go try them on and I will make them even more beautiful!"

"Will mine be aerodynamic?" asked Rainbow, to which she got a look from all of us, "What? I need to be able to fly at all times!"

---

Twilight didn't take us becoming Princess Cadence's bridesmaids very well, but we still had to practice for the wedding. We all got in place (not wearing our actual outfits for the wedding, though) and we began. We got as far as the part with the ring, when we had to stop, as that was Twilight's responsibility.

"Hey..." said Shining Amour, "Has anypony seen Twilight?"

The doors burst open and Twilight ran in, furious.

"I'm here!" she declared angrily, "I'm not gonna stand next to her! And neither should you!"

"I'm sorry," said Shining to all of us, "I don't know why she's acting like this."

"Maybe we should just ignore her." suggested Princess Cadence.

"You have to listen to me!" cried Twilight.

"Oh, goodness!" said Fluttershy, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" she snapped.

"Ya sure about that?" asked Applejack.

"I've got something to say!" she pointed at Cadence furiously, "She's evil!"

Shining Armour stood protectively in front of Princess Cadence, and we looked at Twilight with concern.

"She's been horrible to my friends, she's obviously done something to her bridesmaids, and if that wasn't enough, I saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes go all loopy!"

"Why are you doing this to me?" asked Princess Cadence, holding back tears.

"Because you're evil!"

Princess Cadance cried and sprinted out of the room, but Twilight pressed on.

"Evil! And if I don't stop you, you're gonna ruin my brother's life!"

"You want to know why my eyes went all loopy?" interrupted Shining Armour, "Because ever since I started having to perform my protection spell, I've been getting terrible migraines. Cadance hasn't been casting spells on me. She's been using her magic to heal me!"

Twilight took in a deep breath of shock and disbelief.

" And she actually decided to replace her bridesmaids because she found out the only reason they wanted to be in the wedding was so that they could meet Canterlot royalty! And if she hasn't been on her best behavior with your friends, it's because with me being so busy, she's had to make all the decisions about the wedding!"

"I was just trying to-" tried Twilight, but Shining continued

"She's been completely stressed out because it's really important to her that our big day be perfect! Something that obviously wasn't important to you!" Twilight gasped, Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and comfort my bride. And you can forget about being my best mare. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't show up to the wedding at all."

"C'mon, y'all," whispered Applejack as we all awkwardly exited, "Let's go check on the Princess."

We all left the room leaving Twilight standing behind in shock. We heard Princess Cadence crying, and all went over to comfort her.

"H-how could she accuse me of being e-e-evil?" asked Princess Cadence, who was sobbing.

"There, there," said Fluttershy, "I'm sure Twilight didn't really mean it."

"I-I'm going to talk with her," she said, drying her eyes, "Nopony e-else come, please."

Princess Cadence walked back into the room, closing the door behind her. I felt bad for her, and concern for Twilight. I thought that she was just nervous, not flat-out going nuts with jealousy! Princess Cadence came back in a few minutes, more tears in her eyes.

"S-she insisted that I was h-hurting her brother a-and then ran off!" she cried.

"She ran away?" asked Rainbow, flying into the air, "I'll make Twilight-"

"No," said Princess Celestia, "Twilight needs this time alone to think about her actions. Let's all take a break and then rehearse again."

We all nodded and walked off to get some snacks.

---

Nopony seen or heard of Twilight for the rest of the day, and all of tomorrow. The wedding still went on as planned, expect that Spike was now holding the rings for Princess Cadence and Shining Amour as opposed to Twilight. I could have sworn that I heard more buzzing during the beginning on the wedding, but ignored it.

"Princess Cadance and Shining Armor," said Princess Celestia, having finished her speech, "It is my great pleasure to pronounce you-"

"Stop!" yelled Twilight, running into the room.

We all groaned, annoyed that Twilight was trying to say that Princess Cadence was evil, again.

"Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother?" asked Princess Cadence, beginning to cry again, "Why does she have to ruin my special day?"

"Because it's not your special day!" yelled an identical voice, "It's mine!"

Princess Cadence ran into the room, her coat and mane a mess. Everypony gasped, and I froze, realizing what the buzzing sounds were.

"What?" asked fake-Cadence, "But how did you escape my bridesmaids?"

"A bouquet." said Twilight.

"Hmph. Clever. But you're still too late!"

"I-I don't understand!" said Applejack, "How can there be two of 'em?"

"She's a Changeling!" said real-Cadence, causing all of my friends to glance at me, "She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them!"

Fake-Cadence smirked, and then was surrounded by an all-too-familiar-green light.

No, no, no, no! I thought, It's her!

"Right you are, Princess!" said Queen Chrysalis, everypony watching her with fear, "And as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!"

"They'll never get the chance!" yelled Princess Cadence, "Shining Armor's protection spell will keep them from ever even reaching us!"

"Oh, I doubt that," said Queen Chrysalis with a chuckle, "Isn't that right, dear?"

"Mm-hmm..." said Shining Armour, his eyes glowing green.

Princess Cadence's horn lit up blue, but Queen Chrysalis' horn lit up green in response.

"Ah, ah, ah!" she said, "Don't want to go back to the caves, now do you?" Princess Cadence took a step back, "Ever since I took your place, I've been feeding off Shining Armor's love for you. Every moment he grows weaker and so does his spell. Even now, my minions are chipping away at it!"

The buzzing! I thought, It's the other drones!

"He may not be my husband, but he is under my total control now!" Twilight and Princess Cadence gasped, "And I'm sorry to say, unable to perform his duties as captain of the Royal Guard!"

"Not my Shining Armor!" cried Princess Cadence.

"Soon, my changeling army will break through! First, we take Canterlot. And then, all of Equestria!"

"No. You won't," said Princess Celestia steeping towards her, "You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self, I can protect my subjects from you!"

Princess Celestia flew at Queen Chrysalis, and their horns crashed together. They both struggled for a bit, before Queen Chrysalis manged to get her with a solid hit that caused her to go flying across the room and land on the ground.

"Princess Celestia!" cried Twilight, running over to her.

"Ah!" said Queen Chrysalis with glee, "Shining Armor's love for you is even stronger than I thought! Consuming it has made me even more powerful than Celestia!"

"The Elements of Harmony..." gasped Princess Celestia, majorly weakened, "You must get to them and use their power to defeat the queen... Crystal should know their tactics..."

We all nodded at each other, though I noticed that my friends seemed a bit nervous near me. We all quickly removed the fancy dresses that we were wearing to run faster, and sprinted out of the castle as fast a possible.

"You can run, but you can't hide!" cackled Queen Chrysalis.

I glanced up at the barrier and saw was what looked like thousands of Changelings smashing at it. There were huge cracks forming, and the barrier was going to break soon.

"We need to hurry!" I cried, taking the lead.

"Crystal, are you one of them?" asked Twilight in disbelief.

"I might be a Changeling, but I'm not a love-stealing monster!"

That answer seemed to satisfy the others, and we hurried on as the barrier broke. Everything rumbled, so we all had to stand ground. The Changeling army began crashing down into the city, and we ran even faster.

"Hurry!" I urged, "They have power in numbers!"

We quickly ran up a set of stairs, only to be met by a mob of Changeling already there. We turned around, but there were even more behind us.

"Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way!" said Rainbow, just as one of the Changelings turned into her, "Wait, what?"

"They're Changelings, remember?" I yelled, a group of Changeling that looked like me mimicking what I said.

"Don't let them distract you!" said Twilight.

A fight then broke out between us and the Changeling army. I quickly yanked my necklace out of my mane, as it couldn't be copied like Applejack's hat. A large group of Changelings who had been heading towards Applejack instantly ran towards me, and I lit up my horn green. I wasn't using my magic to fight, but instead had my crystal surrounded in my magic and was using as much love and friendship as I could get out of it.

"Why are they all attacking Crystal?" I heard Applejack ask at one point, but I continued fighting.

Within the mobs of Changelings, I could instantly detect my friends, so I would come to their aid whenever needed. With our power combined, we managed to fend off every single Changeling that had swarmed around us, and continued on towards the Elements.

"Wait, guys, hold up-" I started just as we ran to the top of the stairs where we were met with Changeling guarding the entrance, inside the chamber with the Elements, and coming up from behind and above.

"Uh oh." said Twilight as the swarm closed in on us.

---

We were brought back to the castle, with Rainbow and I being carried by three Changelings each. Several grasped at my necklace, but flinched back as yellow sparks jumped out at them from it. Discord had definitely kept his word.

"You do realize the reception's been cancelled, don't you?" asked Queen Chrysalis as the Changeling deposited us, "Go! Feed!"

The Changelings that had brought us in flew out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

"It's funny, really," said Queen Chrysalis, "Twilight here was suspicious of my behavior all along. Too bad the rest of you were too caught up in your wedding planning to realize those suspicions were correct!"

"Sorry, Twi," said Applejack, "We should've listened to you."

"It's not your fault," said Twilight, "She fooled everypony."

"But I feel really, really bad," I said, "How could I have not noticed?

"Now hang on just a minute," said Queen Chrysalis, approaching us, "What do we have here?"

She pushed the others back with her magic, and pulled we forward by my necklace. The bright red crystal glowed even brighter as she looked at me, a smirk appearing on her face. My friends watched nervously, and Princess Cadence watched in confusion.

"Well, well," she said, holding my crystal in her magic, "I'm surprised your here, my sweet Crystal. Love the new look. Though, regular looks best!"

Queen Chrysalis blasted me with her magic, and my unicorn forme faded away to my Changeling forme. I made a small signal to Twilight, who nervously went over to Princess Cadence while Chrysalis was distracted.

"I thought that you would have given up in the desert, and come back, begging to be accepted again," said Queen Chrysalis, "But you never came back, and I see why! You live with ponies and steal their love! No wonder your precious little crystal is still red!"

"They're my friends," I said, my fangs gnashing together, "I don't steal their love, they willing give me some from an everlasting supply."

"You can tell yourself that all you want, but you're still stealing it from them! They probably don't even know that you're a beautiful love leech!"

A love leech. Discord had used the exact same phrase. Queen Chrysalis and the other Changelings could be called that, but I wasn't one! I didn't notice my crystal blazing bright red, and Queen Chrysalis smirking.

"I am not a LOVE LEECH!" I yelled, throwing a red and green swirled beam of magic at Queen Chrysalis.

She casually lit up her, horn but my beam of magic swirled around her, and I jumped up and pinned her down.

"What?!?" she asked angrily, "I was going to absorb that for myself!"

"Quick!" cried Twilight to Shining Armour, who was freed from Queen Chrysalis, as was Princess Cadence, "Use your spell!"

Shining Armour's horn barely made a spark, and he sighed in exhaustion and frustration.

"I have no power..." he said.

"My love will give you strength!" cried Princess Cadence, pulling him close.

"That will never never work!" said Queen Chrysalis, "Now get off of me, you little drone!"

Princess Cadence's horn fizzled to life, and a small heart popped out. The heart swirled around her and Shining, and they were lifted into the air. Both looked surprised, but then closed their eyes as power surged around them

"WHAT?!?" cried Queen Chrysalis.

I started to smile as they moved into the shape of a heart, but my smile vanished instantly, and was replaced with a look of fear.

"Twilight!" I cried out as more power surged around Shining and Princess Cadence, "I'm a Changeling, too!"

"Oh!" cried Twilight, her eyes widening in realization.

My friends all quickly ran towards me, just as Shining and Princess Cadence let out a burst of magic that rapidly expanded, and pulled me with it. I went flying through the air, and crashed into another Changeling. Everything went dark, and the last thing I heard was my friends shouting my name.

"CRYSTAL!"

Comments

[Wolfren]

*splat* The end.

[Molly Dreemurr]

. . .
Well, that happened...

[Frankie2]

Yet, another unexpected twist.

[ThatNoobPony]

Is she find Thorax on the way ?