Chapter 112 - A Canterlot Wedding (Part 2)
A deep feeling of regret was what Barrier felt as he peeled himself off the marble floor. With how sore his back now was, perhaps taking the cloud bed wouldn’t have been so bad.
Giving his eyes a quick rub with his foreleg, his vision soon cleared and saw that it was a quarter to eleven in the morning.
“Faust sake, why is it that I feel more tired after oversleeping than I do with less sleep?” Barrier rolled his shoulders and stretched his legs out before trotting over to the door.
“Sir!” Looking to his right, he saw the same blue coated guardsmare from the night before. “I have a message for you.” She then took her helmet off to pull out a piece of parchment that she handed to him.
Taking the parchment in his magic, Barrier quickly scanned over the message.
Dear Barrier,
Spearmint, Lightning Javelin and I are going to have lunch at a restaurant called The Bitalian Lunchbox. It’s located on the corner of Dainty Drive and Frilly Flower Street. It’s a casual restaurant, so if you wish to come, feel free to drop by.
~ Private/Viscountess Swiftsword of the Falchion Clan
“Hmm…” Barrier briefly brought a hoof to his chin before his stomach made itself known by growling like a starved timberwolf. “I guess it couldn’t hurt. Guard, do you know the way to Dainty Drive or Frilly Flower Street?”
“Sorry, sir.” The guardsmare gave Barrier a salute while keeping her eyes focused on the wall on the other side of the hall. “I’m new to Canterlot and the only restaurant I’ve been to is Donut Joe’s.”
“Thanks anyway,” Barrier said as he rolled his eyes and started down the hallway. Don’t really have anything else to do. I’ll probably just have a quick bite with Swift and company before I swing by the library to get something to pass the time.
***
“Faust dammit,” Barrier muttered as he wandered through the shining capital city. It had been nearly an hour since he’d set off to find The Bitalian Lunch Box, but it seems Swift had picked out a restaurant on the corner of a pair of streets he’d never visited.
Just as he felt like giving up and returning to the palace, he saw a sign up ahead that read Frilly Flower Street. A wave of relief washed over Barrier as he headed towards the street corner.
That relief was quickly dispelled as he saw a white covered wagon zip by. A wagon that had a large red emblem on the side and emitted a loud noise.
An ambulance? Barrier quickly darted up to the corner, where he saw several such wagons being loaded up with sick looking ponies.
Sick ponies all around a restaurant that had a sign that read The Bitalian Lunch Box.
“Always something…” Barrier’s horn quickly ignited as he teleported as far as he could down the street before rushing up to a crowd where a unicorn stallion in a white paramedic uniform stepped in front of him.
“Sir, I need you to stop!” The paramedic said as Barrier came to a halt. “We can’t let you in here. It’s really bad.”
“What in Tartarus is going on?!” Barrier shouted as he looked over the unicorn’s shoulder, seeing that there had to be at least a dozen ponies being loaded into ambulances while many more were groaning and holding their bellies in pain.
“Apparently this restaurant had a really bad case of food poisoning,” the paramedic said as he quickly looked over his shoulder. “We’re still trying to figure out how and why this happened, but suffice to say, a bunch of ponies are sick and the restaurant’s been closed so it can be investigated.”
“My friends were having lunch here,” Barrier said as he tried to see any sign of his companions from the crowd of sick ponies, but couldn’t find any trace.
“If they’re not in the crowd or in one of the ambulances, they might be on their way to the hospital already,” the paramedic said as a pair of ponies pulled away with one of the ambulances. “Sir, it’ll likely be a while before we’ve got everything sorted out here. You may want to go somewhere else to eat while you wait for everypony to get treated.”
Holding back a growl, Barrier let out a defeated sigh and started to turn away.
Something has to be going on. It’s just too coincidental that three skilled members of the royal guard all get severe food poisoning the day before the royal wedding. Barrier felt rather frustrated as he headed back down Frilly Flower Street. I’d better get back to the palace… After I get something to eat.
***
Due to the intense lunch rushes the restaurants faced, along with Barrier wanting to get back to the palace as quickly as possible, he returned to the palace halls with a bag of donuts in hoof.
Not the healthiest option, but seeing as I’m starved for choice .... Barrier thought as he took another bite of a donut.
Just as he finished his latest donut, he arrived in the guest wing’s hallway, where he saw a somewhat nervous looking Twilight Sparkle.
Swallowing his bite, Barrier approached the violet mare. “Is something troubling you?”
The indigo maned mare slightly jumped as she turned to face the charcoal unicorn. “Oh, Barrier. I didn’t see you there.”
“Sorry if I startled you,” Barrier said as he levitated a donut from his bag and offered it to Twilight, who practically inhaled the baked good. “Is something on your mind?”
“It’s just—” she said before she swallowed the donut and continued. “It’s Cadance. She seems really off to me.”
“How so?” Barrier asked, tilting his head as he pulled another donut from his bag.
“Well, Applejack offered her an apple fritter. She said she: “loved, loved, loved” before Applejack gave her a bag full of them. Then, when Applejack wasn’t looking, she tossed the bag of them in the trash!”
“That seems odd. I do recall her eating a fair amount of desserts back during Hearth’s Warming,” Barrier said before swallowing his bite of his donut. “Have you known her to have a dislike of apples?”
“I… Well, I can’t remember a moment where she had apples when she was foalsitting me or in our more recent interactions,” Twilight said as she rubbed her foreleg, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
“Are there any other issues with her? So far, what she did could be for a multitude of reasons like trying to spare Applejack’s feelings or worrying about being able to fit into her wedding dress.” Barrier thought he saw a light behind Twilight’s eyes as she faced him once more.
“Oh! She seemed rather insistent about her dress having more beading and a longer train to Rarity!” Twilight said, coming very close to Barrier’s face.
“Forgive me, but I’m no expert on what brides would like for a wedding dress,” Barrier responded flatly as he took a step back. “Was she overly demanding or cruel?”
“Well… no,” Twilight sighed as she brought a hoof to her forehead. “In fact, her exact words were that she was just hoping for those things. It’s probably not too bad of an addition, especially compared to what we did for our gala dresses.
“But!” She shot up to Barrier’s face once more. “She was really insulting to Pinkie’s party planning earlier! When Pinkie asked if things were perfect, she said it was, “Perfect if we were celebrating a six-year old’s birthday party”.”
“How was Pinkie’s work?” Barrier asked as he gently pressed a forehoof to Twilight’s chest and lightly nudged her away.
“She…” Twilight groaned as she put a hoof over her eyes and dragged it across her face before looking at Barrier again. “She set up a bunch of balloons, a pinata, pin the tail on the pony, board games, and picked out polka music for the dances.”
“Hmm… Maybe she had a point?” Barrier tried to sound comforting.
“I just… I don’t know, something feels off to me,” Twilight said as she trotted over to a nearby window, where she spotted Rainbow Dash soaring through the sky. “Maybe I’m just feeling off, I haven’t been sleeping well for a while, seeing Sombra, the stress of—”
“Wait, back up!” Barrier said as he shot over to Twilight’s side. “You’ve been seeing Sombra?!”
Twilight quickly shushed Barrier, hoping nopony heard them. Thankfully, it seemed the hallway was empty.
“It’s just… There have been times at night where I’d see something in the dark that I would mistake for Sombra, but whenever I would go to see what it was, it was either nothing or I mistook somepony else for him,” Twilight said in clear embarrassment. “I think it’s just due to exhaustion, courtesy of some bad dreams about what I did to Trixie or watching you… well, snap his neck. But it’s probably nothing.”
“If it were just you having an issue like this, I’d probably agree,” Barrier wearily said as he leaned closer. “But you’re not the only one that’s been seeing their dead enemies.”
“Wait, what?” Twilight was stunned by what Barrier said before he looked around the hall, seeing if anypony would overhear.
“Since the day Discord got unleashed, I’ve been seeing what appears to be Grimhilde LeGrande in various locations.” As Barrier spoke, he could see the violet in Twilight’s coat turning pale. “Not only that, but I believe that this is connected to the murder of a mare in Vanhoover and a unicorn stallion who might have stolen Grimhilde’s skull.”
“This… this is unbelievable,” Twilight whispered to the dark-coated stallion. “Are you saying there’s some kind of conspiracy going about this?”
“I can’t say for certain,” Barrier answered. Though, several of these appearances of Grimhilde happened to be around the times I’ve seen Starshine; the pony who’s about to become the new guard captain who I haven’t seen since yesterday. Still, it would be a bad idea to voice the thought without solid evidence.
“Barrier, Twilight!” Cadance’s voice reached the pair’s ears, making them turn to see the rosy alicorn as she came around the bend in the hallway. “It’s been a while since I saw the two of you. How’s your day going?”
“Rather poorly right now, Empress,” Barrier quickly responded. “I went to meet with Swiftsword, Spearmint, and Lightning Javelin for lunch, but by the time I arrived there, there was a mass outbreak of food poisoning.”
“Wait, what?!” Both Twilight and Cadance were taken aback, with the latter nearly tripping in her steps.
“How’s that possible?” Cadance asked in visible shock.
“I have no idea. It’s only due to the fact I slept in and had trouble finding the restaurant that I didn’t succumb to the same fate as them,” Barrier stated before rubbing the bridge of his snout.
“Three skilled guards all apparently taken out by food poisoning right before the royal wedding,” Cadance said as she rubbed her temples. “Either this is insanely bad luck, or something fishy is going on.”
“I pray that it’s the former,” Barrier stated to the towering mare. “Have you seen Lieutenant Starshine recently?”
“Sorry, but I don’t think so,” Cadance responded as she stopped massaging her head. “Then again, I could be wrong. I’ve had a lot on my plate and despite how much I slept, I’m still feeling pretty tired.”
“At any rate, we should try to keep our guard up while we get things ready for tomorrow,” Barrier turned around and started to walk away from the pair of mares. “I’m going to try to find whatever hospital they were sent to.”
“Good luck, Barrier. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious.” He heard Cadance call out as he drew away. “Try to be back in time for the rehearsal.”
“Cadance, might I ask why you threw out those fritters Applejack made for you? You said you loved them.” Barrier heard Twilight ask as he drew further away.
“Oh, well, I wasn’t personally too fond of how overly sweet they were, but I thought other party guests might like them more,” the empress nonchalantly answered. “Still, throwing them away was a mistake. I should have given them to somepony else, but I was too tired to think straight.”
“I see.” Barrier heard a note of venom in Twilight’s words as he started down a flight of stairs.
***
After checking several hospitals full of food poisoning victims, Barrier arrived at Rosedust Memorial Hospital, where he finally learned that this was where his friends were taken.
“Do you have any idea what caused all this?” Barrier asked the curly maned receptionist as she quickly rushed about and moved multiple stacks of papers.
“I’m no doctor, but I think I heard something about somepony at the restaurant mistaking a three on an expiration date for an eight on a tub of mayonnaise. Right now, we’re swamped and have had to send ponies to other hospitals,” the mare quickly said as she darted around, not sparing Barrier a single glance.
“Would it be possible to see them?” Barrier leaned against the reception counter.
“Sorry, but visiting hours are over for today,” she answered as a nurse dumped off a large stack of papers on her back. “You can come back tomorrow at Nine A.M. if you’d like to see them.”
With a tired and annoyed groan, Barrier walked away and headed for the exit. As he drew near the doors, he spotted a clock on the wall that said it was ten to six.
Crap. I’m going to be late for the rehearsal. Barrier took a deep breath before stepping outside, where he started running back towards the palace. Hopefully nothing too crazy happens before I get back.
***
Several guards were startled as Barrier rushed by, hoping that he would be in time for the rehearsal ceremony. His forelegs were aching and he’d spent a good amount of magic teleporting multiple times along the way.
As he approached the chamber where the ceremony was being performed, he caught the sound of ponies loudly arguing from behind the closed doors.
That can’t be good. Barrier slowed down as he came up to the door. Taking a deep breath, he gently nosed the door open, where he saw a sad looking Cadance by a furious Shining Armor’s side as he was yelling at his stunned younger sister.
“-In fact, if I were you, I wouldn’t show up to the wedding at all!” Shining Armor barked at the violet unicorn, making tears form in her eyes.
“Shining… I…”
“Shining, wait,” Cadance said as she put a hoof on Shining’s shoulder. “Don’t do this. We’re all stressed, and Twilight told me a bit what she’s been going through recently.”
“Cadance…” Shining quietly said as she nuzzled his cheek.
“I want to be a part of your family, dear, and that includes her,” Cadance said before she pulled back and looked the alabaster stallion in his eyes. “I want her to be there for us, but we’re all a bit stressed. Please, just let me talk to her so we can make amends.”
Looking between his teary eyed sister and the pleading princess, Shining Armor sighed before nuzzling Cadance.
“Alright, Cadance. If anypony could solve this, it’s you,” Shining said before giving her a light peck on the cheek. He then turned to face his younger sister. “Twilight… I’m sorry for snapping like that.”
“C’mon, Twilight. We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Cadance said in a firm tone as she came up to the violet mare’s side. It was then she spotted the charcoal unicorn who caught the tail end of the shouting match. “Barrier, you should come with us. I overheard a bit of what you and Twilight were talking about earlier and you could use this as well.”
“I don’t think that would be necessary, Ca—”
“Don’t make me make it an order, Barrier,” Cadance interrupted as she and Twilight came up to him.
“I… Very well, your highness.” Barrier answered with a sigh as he fell in line beside an ashamed looking Twilight as they followed the rosy alicorn.
An uncomfortable silence was held in the air the entire time the two followed behind the empress. After several tense minutes, the trio reached a room with a pair of guards watching it and the princess gave a quick nod. Cadance led them into a room that to Barrier had the most coltish paint job he’d ever seen. Nearly every single item in the room was some form of pink.
“Take a seat,” Cadance said as she passed by a table with a quartet of pink cushions, heading towards a cabinet full of liquor bottles and wine glasses while the guards closed the doors behind them. With a flare of her magic, the cabinet opened and she levitated a bottle and a trio of glasses towards her.
Twilight quickly took a seat like a child who was frightened after a scolding while Barrier more casually sat down.
With a deep breath, Cadance popped the cork off the bottle and started to fill the three glasses.
“We’ve all be pretty stressed recently,” Cadance said as she finished pouring the wine and picking up a glass. “If we’re all going to be a family, I want us to try to relieve this as much as we can so the wedding can start off on a good hoof.”
“Are you sure drinking would be a good idea, Cadance?” Twilight fidgeted as the alicorn slid the two glasses over to the unicorns. “I found out I can get a hangover very easily.”
“Rest assured, we’ll be fine,” Cadance said before she picked up her glass and took a large swig, much to Twilight’s surprise. “Besides, I get the feeling I’ll end up having the most.
“Still, at least I’m back in Canterlot with loved ones and not surrounded by advisors who are telling me things like, ‘Empress, it’s foolhardy to even consider getting rid of the lead pipes’, or ‘Empress, you need to eat a lot more so you don’t disgust the empire’s foals’, or ‘Empress, there’s a protest going around that has citizens demanding you dye your coat blue so you actually look like a mare’!” Cadance said in an annoyed and mocking tone before taking some deep breaths and stretching her right foreleg back and forth.
“Sorry about that,” Cadance quietly said with a light scarlet tinge on her muzzle before taking another swig of wine. “It’s just… there’s a lot that comes with being the leader of an entire people.”
“I… I didn’t know you had to deal with problems like that, Cadance,” Twilight softly said before she picked up her glass and started to sip her wine. Without making a sound, Barrier started to quietly drink his wine as he watched the two mares.
“It’s okay. Not only can I handle it, but I know it’s small potatoes compared to what you’ve gone through,” Cadance said before gently rubbing Twilight’s back. “All the stresses of being a heroine to the entire kingdom, what happened with the Alicorn Amulet, mistaking shadows for a dead enemy, waking up covered in ladybugs, and becoming the best mare for a royal wedding, it’s no surprise that you’re so stressed and worried about your BBBFF.”
“Yeah… I’m sorry for calling you evil, Cadance. I love you,” Twilight said, unable to look Cadance in the eye. She took a larger sip of her drink, trying to chase away her shame.
“Aww, I know, Twilight,” Cadance said before nuzzle the violet pony. “I can feel how much you do.”
It was then Cadance turned her attention to the onyx unicorn. “And Barrier, I overheard you talking about seeing Grimhilde and that pony you think murdered somepony and stole her skull when you spoke to Twilight earlier. Have you been doing well?”
Taking a sizable gulp of the wine, Barrier set his glass down on the table. “To be honest, despite having some good things going on, there’s a fair amount that has me worried. Nopony has seen this unicorn stallion and apparently nopony has any records of me getting bloodwork done, so I have to wait before more can be done.”
“Well, I’m certain that whatever happens, things will turn out for the better,” Cadance said as she lifted up her glass. “How about the three of us have a toast?”
“To family?” Twilight asked, making the alicorn mare smile.
“To the dawning of a bright new era of happiness and security for our families,” Cadance said as she held out her glass over the center of the table in her aura.
“Hear, hear,” Twilight and Barrier said as they clicked their floating glasses against Cadance’s, creating a beautiful display of magenta, blue and emerald light.
“Twilight, I hope your frightening visions come to an end soon,” Cadance said before clinking her glass against the violet mare’s.
“And Barrier,” Cadance said as she floated her glass towards the dark-coated stallion. “I hope your lemon-marked criminal is brought to justice soon.”
Cadance’s glass nearly touched Barrier’s when he realized something. He pulled his glass back and rose from the table.
“I never mentioned that he had a lemon mark,” Barrier said just before he felt an odd feeling fall over him, as if someone had dumped a ton of mattresses on his back. His muscles felt incredibly heavy and he struggled to keep his eyes open.
Quickly glancing to the side, he saw Twilight was in a similar, if not worse state as she started to lean against the table.
With a tired sigh, Cadance rose from her chair as Barrier struggled to escape. He stumbled to his side as he felt the siren’s call of slumber slowly but surely take him.
“I knew I’d slip up eventually,” Cadance said as her harlequin green magic quietly open the door. Swiftly, the two guards from before entered the room and came up to Barrier and Twilight’s side with stern looks on their muzzles.
“Sorry about this…” Barrier heard Cadance say before his eyes shut and he felt his consciousness slip away. “But tomorrow’s a day I’ve been dreaming of since I was small.”
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Chrysalis initially replaced Starshine and has now replaced Cadance. I don't know how Twilight and Barrier are going to escape or what the lemon coated stallion has to do with the changelings.
This Chrysalis seems more devious than she is usually portrayed. I like it.
Knowing Chrysalis she's going to dump them in the caves where the real Cadence is. She played the part much better this time, and it's clear she's had changelings messing with Barrier and Twilight by to make them question their sanity. I don't think Chrysalis is showing any extra competence, it's just her plans have altered and she spent more time around Cadence before replacing her that in official canon, resulting in a better impersonation. She seems more competent then during the Canterlot Wedding Episode only causes she's shrunken more into the plan in this time line.