The Lion's Roar

by I Am The Night

Chapter 5: Wedding Crashers

And then it wasn't.

Lyon woke up with a groan, and a tremendous pain bustling in his head. He felt dizzy all of a sudden, like he was hungover.

"What happened... last..... night..."

I don't feel so... good...

"Spike?" Lyon quickly examined his immediate surroundings, but found no such trace of the tiny drake. "Spike?!"

"Lyon!" he heard his name be called from a distance. Getting up from the ground, he attempted to follow the sound, only to bump headfirst into... a force field?

"What the...?"

He pressed a hoof against where he walked, only for it to make contact with nothing, and yet something. Whatever he touched made a faint greenish glow, illuminating the area for a brief moment. He was able to only make out nothing but rocks and stones. That indicated he was no longer in the castle. Or maybe even Canterlot, for that matter!

"Spike?" Lyon called out. "Where are you?"

"Right in front of you," the young dragon said as he belched out a quick flame, revealing himself and lighting up the area faintly. "It's a force field. I already tried getting out, but nothing's working."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he insisted, "but... where are we?"

With the brighter light, Lyon attempted to make out where they were. More rocks and stones were visible, but the light extended further out to reveal a series of tunnels that split off into different directions, none of them harboring light beyond.

Then it hit him. "Wait a second... I know where we are! These are the Crystal Caves!"

"The what Caves?"

"It's a huge tunnel system that used to have tons of gems all throughout it. Unicorns apparently cleaned the entire place out and forgot about it. The tunnels run all throughout beneath Canterlot."

"W-Why would they take us here?"

"Like I said: They forgot about this place. Whoever's behind all this doesn't want us telling anyone. And they picked the one place nopony would expect to go looking."

"What do we do?" Spike asked.

"First thing we need to do is get out of here. Get to the wedding before it's too late."

"Yeah," Spike shrugged at his predicament, "but how are we gonna do that?"

Lyon scrunched his lips and began to think of every possible way he could break this force field. A few knocks brought no hard noise, only a whir of magical sound. He started thinking back to the times Twilight practiced a share of field spells. They were far from perfect, at least the initial ones, as they could easily be broken through by someone like Applejack giving them a hard buck of the legs.

...

Maybe...

Releasing his touch from the field, Lyon turned around and started the rear himself. Spike asked what he was doing, but he didn't answer straight away, too busy channeling his energy directly into his legs, as if he were bucking a tree at the orchard.

With a firm fling of his hind hooves, he struck the field with the greatest force he could ever have mustered.

Then he did it again. And again. And again, and again, and again.

After the seventh whack, he was left panting on the floor, struggling to catch his breath. When he finally could, he sat quietly.

"... I thought that'd work."

"If it was Twilight's work, maybe it would have," Spike suggested, earning a faint eye-roll from Lyon. But even the mention of her name emitted a saddened sigh from his throat.

"I hope she's okay."

Spike hung his head. "Me too."

Out of the distant silence, the sound of hooves clopping against stone caught the attention of the duo. They turned to one of the empty tunnels, only to see nothing at first, but they knew someone... something was coming this way.

Out of the darkness of the nearest tunnel, three ponies emerged, all wearing common Canterlot attire. Two of them being unicorns, their horns faintly glowed with equally green-like hues. But the oddest one was the earth pony beside them, whose eyes glowed instead.

"Finally," one of the unicorns spoke in a calm manner, "the traitor is awake."

Traitor.

"Who are you? What do you want from us?" Lyon demanded to know, standing firmly to attention.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" another spoke, their tone much deeper. "If only you weren't such a coward, you might've been able to prepare."

"Prepare? Prepare for what?"

The only mare of the trio, the earth pony, boomed, "You'll find out soon enough, traitor!"

"What do you mean "traitor"? What are you talking about?!"

"And what have you done with Twilight?!" Spike yelled, stomping his foot firmly on the ground. "Where is my friend?!"

One of the unicorns walked over to Spike's field. "The little skank is fine. We're making very sure of that."

"If you lay a hoof on her, I swear—" Lyon tried to threaten, but was cut off.

"We don't have to lay a hoof on anyone. At least... not physically. I'm afraid your "friend" is in dire need of some... reeducation."

"Let her go!" Spike banged his fisted claws against the walls of the force field, but it did nothing but cast green shockwaves.

"In time, little dragon. Now that you're finally awake, we believe it's time for your own reeducation. We can't exactly have some conflicting information between you three, now can we?"

"Leave him alone!" Lyon barked to the ponies. "Whatever problem you've got, it's not with him! Do whatever you want to me, but leave the kid alone!"

"And have him disrupt the Queen's plans by blabbing his mouth to your ignorant princesses? I'm afraid we can't allow that."

"So sit down, students—class is in session," the earth pony stated bitterly. Suddenly, her eyes glowed once again, and a beam of green magic illuminated Spike's force field. The young drake shrieked in pain as his body's nerves felt as if they fired off all at once.

"Stop!" one of the unicorns shouted. Almost immediately, the earth pony ceased her magic and turned to the unicorn. Spike was left lying on the ground, clutching his stomach tightly. All Lyon could do was watch, powerless to stop them.

"Why did you stop me?" the earth pony demanded, a glare in her eyes. But the glare soon faded as the unicorn pointed his hoof straight to Lyon.

"Let's start with the traitor," he suggested. "We owe it to the Queen."

"I'm assuming "Cadance" is your Queen?" Lyon jested bitterly.

"And soon, she'll be yours again."

Lyon looked at them, confused yet defensive. "What do you mean again?"

The three ponies didn't directly answer his question, instead powering up their magic as they did with Spike. The sheer luminosity of their combined magic lit up the cave, and forced Lyon's eyes closed.

"Wouldn't you like to know..." they repeated in unison. "... Traitor."

In a single burst, a torrent of magic engulfed Lyon's force field, channeling the ponies' magic directly into his body. He fell to the ground, the pain overwhelming his nerve endings as if he were on fire. Spike, having recovered from his own pain, pounded against the walls of his field, trying whatever he could to break it down and stop them! But nothing worked.

Spike was doomed to watch them do whatever they wanted.

Lyon gritted his teeth, trying to prop himself up with his fore hooves. He felt heavy, invisible baggage pushing him down. Every second, he felt weaker, the pain stronger. A tear ran down his cheek. His mind screamed, banging around the inner walls of his subconscious to get out, get out, getoutgetoutgetoutGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTOFMYHEADGETOUTOFMYHEADOUTOUTOUTOUTOUTOUT—

In an instant, the three ponies were blown away, crashing against the walls of the cave. A shockwave rippled down the tunnels, ringing its corpse like a bell. The force fields surrounding Lyon and Spike were suddenly shattered as if they were glass, disintegrating into pixie dust. Spike felt himself get blown back, but kept firm to the ground until there was no longer any push against him.

When it was over, he opened his eyes. Lyon stood in the same spot, hooves clutched to the ground and his teeth grit to the point where it felt they would break. His eyes glowed a bright tan-yellow, only to suddenly fade away to nothingness seconds later. Once they did, he fell to the ground, trying to catch his breath and coughing with every wrong breath he took.

Spike ran over to help Lyon back on his hooves, but he couldn't help but hold bewilderment in his eyes.

"How... did you do that?" he asked.

Lyon shook his head, gasping through every word. "I... don't... know..."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he insisted, waving a hoof weakly. "Give me a sec."

After a few patient moments, Lyon was able to stand on all fours. Once he was sure he could stand on his own, Spike pulled away to let him catch his breath. A distant groan caught his ears, and he turned to see the three strangers lying on the ground, unconscious but alive.

"They're out cold." Spike looked up to Lyon. "What do we do with them?"

Grunting, Lyon bent down and lifted Spike onto his back. "We leave them here. Let's go."

"What about Twilight? What if she's down here too?"

Lyon eyed the unconscious ponies, scrunching his lips angrily. Ultimately, he let out a shaky breath.

"We'll find her."

With that in mind, Lyon started walking down the tunnel the strangers originally came from. It was the best indication at the moment that there was a way out down the line. As soon as the light dimmed itself to nothing, Spike let out a belch of dragon fire, tuning it until it shone like an oil lamp, allowing the duo to see a good several feet in front of them.

Spike struggled to ask questions, as to avoid accidentally putting out the fire. "Do you know the way out?"

"No," Lyon admitted, "I've never been down here before. Very few ponies these days actually know this place still exists."

"Like Princess Celestia?"

"Probably not her, assuming this place was mined out centuries ago. Otherwise, if she did suspect something was off, this place would probably be one of the first to look in."

Lyon tried to recount the general written "maps" of the caves, but it'd been a while since he last looked at them. Who knows where he was at this moment? When did he ever see an intersection leading down two distinct paths? Why did it feel like this particular tunnel only went further down? Anyways, who was to say the hoof-drawn maps were entirely accurate?

But the stallion kept moving forward, sure that he would eventually find the way out. There was no way a place as complex and expansive as this only had one exit—especially if it ran under the entire city!

"How long do you think we've been down here?"

"I don't know. But considering they had enough time to drag us all the way here, I'm guessing we've been down here all night."

Spike gasped. "But... that means the wedding could be over by now! We could already be too late!"

Then the sound of a ringing bell echoed directly above them. Lyon and Spike looked up to the ceiling of the tunnel, where the noise emitted from.

"That's the clock tower," Lyon realized. "We're near the center of town."

Spike eyed him suspiciously. "For a guy that's only visited Canterlot once, you sure know a lot about this place."

"Well," shrugged Lyon, "it's not that hard to look around and figure out what goes where."

"And let me guess: That's what you were doing on the night of the Gala?"

"... Maybe."

A moment later, Lyon stopped talking. He held a hoof against Spike's mouth to silence him. Lyon placed an ear against the wall of the tunnel, which allowed the sound to resonate in a clearer tone as he listened to the individual bells going off, one after the other. At the end, a higher-pitched clang could be heard.

"Eleven-and-a-half bells," he noted, removing the hoof from Spike's mouth.

"That means it's 11:30. The wedding starts in half an hour!"

"Then we need to be up top by then."

"How are we gonna do that?"

"Other than walking in random directions... I don't know." Lyon sighed. "I should've just listened to you and told Celestia. I mean, we probably would've ended up here regardless, but at least she would've been more suspicious of the whole thing if more than one pony is talking about it."

"Well... it's a bit late for that now, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, Spike," Lyon frowned apologetically. But the drake only snorted a laugh.

"Eh," he shrugged, "it's fine. I let myself get into this mess. If you were going down, you weren't going down alone."

The stallion rolled his eyes and grinned as he continued walking. "Thanks."

"No sweat. Now onward! We have a wedding to crash!"

"... Did you just kick my sides?"

"... Maybe."

---

A few minutes later, Lyon turned down another corridor, covered with the same texture of rocks and fake diamonds. This particular section of the tunnels seemed to be moving in a slightly upward slope, indicating they were approaching the surface. According to Spike, slopes usually meant an exit was nearby. They just had to be on the lookout for the faintest glimmer of light.

"Where do you think they took Twilight?" Spike questioned.

"Probably somewhere down here. And if the Cadance from yesterday is just a fake—"

"Which she is."

"—then the real Cadance is probably down here somewhere too."

"Should we go looking for them?"

"I've been thinking about that too." Lyon shook his head and eyed Spike for a moment. "But you and I both know that if something ever happened to Twilight, she'd want someone to finish whatever she started."

"Do you think she's... dead?"

"No," Lyon said sternly. "This is Twilight we're talking about. If anything's gonna kill her, it's her."

A hiss stopped Lyon in his tracks. The sound came from behind him, but he could see nothing beyond the several feet he just walked from. It echoed off into the distance, indicating it was much farther away. He looked up, down, left, and right, but nothing was there but rock and stone.

Then he saw them: Twenty eyes pierced the darkness, all of them an equal, yet sinister green. They stared him back, growing slowly closer as the sounds of clopping hooves echoed across the emptiness.

"Run," shouted Spike. "Run!"

Immediately, Lyon began running in a dead sprint down the tunnel, and soon after, the creatures behind him did the same. He heard the familiar sound of winding magic, and feared such an attack like before would cause the entire cave to come down on top of them!

But that didn't stop them from firing off whatever shots they could.

"Left!" Spike screamed, and Lyon quickly darted to the left, barely missing an explosive ball of magic. "Duck!"

On command, the stallion ducked down, drifting slightly against the rock, but not in a way that caused him any harm. Another ball flashed by and exploded down the tunnel seconds later. However, the light didn't fade, and Lyon laughed with excitement.

"The exit!" he screamed. "Hang on, Spike!"

Spike clutched his claws around Lyon's neck and held his body firmly against him. Lyon pushed himself faster than before, almost faster than his own hooves could carry him. He could hear his pursuers begin to fall behind, their hissing becoming more aggressive.

"They stopped shooting at us," Spike noticed. "What are they—"

In that moment, a large green blob, larger than anything they fired before, shot towards them from the far darkness. Lyon didn't stop running, even as it started to close in on him.

He felt his legs burn with such intensity, his lungs feeling as if they would collapse in on themselves, his vision growing blurry. But it was coming. Closer and closer and closer, brighter and brighter and brighter, and...

"Jump!"

And he did, leaping through the massive hole while holding Spike tightly against him. Just a moment later, a great explosion rippled behind them, firing outward in a massive shockwave. The force was so great that the rock above the hole collapsed, completely sealing in their pursuers.

Spike caught his breath only in the sense of the sheer tension of it all, whereas Lyon was gasping for sweet oxygen. His head pounded with dizziness, and he could feel his lungs inflate and deflate like paper bags. He occasionally coughed, but ultimately could still hold in a good breath or two.

Lyon couldn't help but laugh wildly as he could feel the warmth of the summer day brush against his fur, and the simultaneously cool wind washing over him.

"We did it!" Spike exclaimed. "We made it out!"

But curious about the sensation of grass beneath him, Spike took in his surroundings and recognized this as Canterlot's rural gardens, just by the downtown area, though closer to the mountainside.

With a weak hoof, Lyon pointed to his right, revealing the now-distant, but still readable clock tower.

"And... with twenty... minutes... to spare."

The clock read 11:40, just indeed twenty minutes shy of noon. They knew that as soon as those bells rang, and those two say 'I do,' it'd be all over. Lyon hoped Twilight was or already had beaten him to the punch, that they had solved the problem and saved the day before any of these cronies had a chance to realize their plans had been tarnished, and that by the time they got there, it would all be okay.

But he couldn't take that risk, no matter who Twilight was—no matter what he always thought of her.

"We... We need to keep moving," Lyon struggled to say, still catching his breath. "It'll take us ten minutes to get there. But in this... case... it might be longer."

"Are you sure you're fit to walk? Or even carry me?"

Lyon nodded, lifting the drake onto his back slowly. "As long as we don't run into anymore of those... whatever they are... we should get there by the time Celestia starts talking. I've always wanted to crash a wedding. Well... at least one that deserves to be crashed."

Supporting Spike on top of him, Lyon set out back to the inner city, as well as getting as far away from the cave as possible.

It wasn't more than a few minutes later that the duo found themselves back in the center of town, practically a stone's throw away from the castle. What they also noticed was just how crowded the streets were, even on a day like this. They thought ponies would be more revolved around the castle area instead of scattered equally across the city.

And yet, countless folks were setting up little booths for merchandise and foods to buy, from Princess Cadance balloons to Shining Armor popsicles. Along the way, several stand owners hollered over to Lyon and Spike, hoping to encourage them to try out whatever they had to offer, but they kindly refused every time.

... Well, at least Lyon refused.

"Do you think once this is over," pitched Spike, "we can grab some of those gems back there?"

Lyon rolled his eyes. "Even when you're in danger, you're still thinking about a meal?"

"Hey, I can't always save the world on an empty stomach!" Spike claimed, earning a lighthearted scoff from Lyon.

"Fine. But how about we focus first?"

With a happy nod, Spike stayed hooked against Lyon's back as the two continued down the street. Though still distant, the familiar pillars of the castle grew larger in size, and the crowds continued to increase until ponies were practically shoulder to shoulder.

"Jeez," said Spike, "I didn't think it'd be this bad!"

"Me neither. Hopefully it thins out before... we... get there..."

Then Lyon stopped. In the midst of the thousands of ponies that surrounded him, he was able to stare down two of them. Both earth ponies, from the looks of it, looked back at him with firm stares from fifty feet away. Their mouths opened as if talking to each other, but it was drowned out by the chatter from everyone else. At first, Lyon assumed they might've been looking at someone else, or something near him and he was a mistaken bystander. It happened more than he wanted it to.

Then their eyes flashed green.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

The two ponies leapt off the ground in a heap, sprinting their way through the crowd. Lyon made sure Spike was gripped tightly to him, then darted off down the street to the castle. He was surrounded by crowd goers, practically swimming his way through them as they yelled incessant insults at him.

"Well, I never!" one mare yelled as Lyon brushed her aside. Only to he knocked over by the pursuers a few moments later.

The duo tried ducking beneath the crowd, hoping to sneak their way out, but the amount of ponies looking down at them or laughing at the strange obscenity only painted a further target on their heads. Eventually, Lyon slid onto the sidewalk, where there was surprisingly less traffic. The pursuing ponies quickly caught wind and also hopped onto the sidewalk, able to run far more freely.

"Uh, Lyon, these guys seem a lot faster than the others!" Spike mentioned worriedly.

Lyon opened his mouth mid-sprint, only to notice notice something coming up from the front. He smirked.

"They may be faster, but we're smarter!"

"What do you mean?"

"On my count, get ready to fire on the left, got it?"

"Why?" Spike questioned, but he too quickly noticed the approaching obstacle. "Ohhhhhh!"

"Ready?"

Lyon ran faster, his hooves nearly stumbling beneath him, but he kept his pace. His lungs didn't burn as much as they did in the caves, but he could feel something. Just a little bit further...!

"One... two...!"

With a boost of his hind legs, Lyon leapt over the fireworks stand and turned each individual rocket in the direction of his pursuers—who immediately stopped in their tracks.

"Three!"

Spike inhaled, only to let out a great torrent of balefire that engulfed the rockets. Instantly, they all began to fire at random intervals, but all towards the strangers, who ducked and jumped themselves out of harm's way.

The fireworks exploded among the crowd, the sound rippling across downtown and turning countless heads. Folks began scrambling in a panic, some overreactive ponies screaming at the top of their lungs. In an instant, it felt more like a riot than a celebration. A perfect distraction.

Amidst the chaos, Lyon ran away, far until his pursuers, still reeling over the spontaneous attack, could no longer see him.

As Lyon hoped, the closer from downtown he was, the less ponies there were crowded in the streets. However, as he ran, several panicked residents followed behind him, but not all of them fled down the same road. Eventually, the screams echoed into the air, only to be overshadowed by the greater tolling of the clock tower bell.

"It's noon!" Spike yelled.

"And just in time, too!" Lyon assured as he made it to the royal palace. The royal guards stood aside to let him and Spike through, indicating they were still the same guards as yesterday and the day before. It had been one of the most relieving moments of the day.

In the distance, the clock tower bell was joined by a series of smaller, higher pitched bells that played a series of cheerful wedding chimes over the royal palace. The last time Lyon heard those bells ring was during the Grand Galloping Gala. He never thought he'd ever be so happy to hear them.

Lyon climbed up the stairs leading to the wedding hall, feeling his legs ache and his lungs finally begin to burn proper again, but he knew he couldn't stop now. He was almost there!

He barged through the first doors of the wedding hall, revealing a long hall that branched off into four different halls exploring deeper into the castle. At the very end of the hall stood two massive doors, beside them two royal guards armor-clad as usual. Lyon ran down the hallway, and straight away he caught the attention of the guards, who stood in front of him in an attempt to keep him out. Inside, Princess Celestia began to speak, entirely unaware.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."

"I just need to get in there! It's an emergency!"

"... to honor the union between these two loving..."

"He's telling the truth! We're in danger!"

"If there is any reason as to why these to should not be wed..."

"Sorry about this!"

Lyon apologized as he stomped on one of the guards' hooves. The guard recoiled in pain, giving him the strength to push the other away. While he didn't fall, it gave Lyon enough to get through.

"Let them speak now, or forever hold their—"

Princess Celestia was interrupted by the sound of crashing doors and the sliding of hooves.

"Stop the wedding!"

A collection of gasps and rearing heads filled the wedding hall as everyone turned to see Lyon and Spike standing beside each other, with a guard ready to lunge at them from behind. Celestia only held a single hoof, calling off his defense.

"What is the meaning of this?" Celestia questioned, staring down the duo fiercely.

"Probably the same reason as Twilight?" Cadance asked almost monotonously. But despite her tone, it was that stare of hers. She looked Lyon down as a predator would their prey. He didn't even notice.

"You're damn right it is!" Lyon shouted with a stomp of his hoof, earning a couple of gasps. "I'm here to stop this yakcrap, whether you like it or not!"

The crowd murmured quietly among one another. In the distance, Rainbow Dash planted a hoof against her face, and Rarity could only glare at Lyon, clearly upset that he had gotten Spike involved.

And Applejack... she didn't know what to think. Her face told a variety of feelings, but Lyon couldn't even focus on that.

Cadance started to shed tears. "W-Why are you doing this? Why can't you just let me have my day in peace?"

"Your day?" Lyon barked. "What kind of day? Total control of Equestria? Enslaving everypony here? C'mon, I'm dying to hear it!"

"That's enough, Lyon!" shouted Celestia.

Spike stepped forward. "Please, you have to listen to him!"

The goddess looked down upon the young drake, and rather than be convinced, only sorrow fell on her face.

"It's one thing to play along with Twilight's charade, no matter how reckless it be... but to bring Spike into this matter is more than." Celestia stared at Lyon coldly before lifting a hoof upward. "Guards! Escort Mr. Lyon out of here."

On command, three extra guards emerged from the sides of the massive hall and joined the fourth, all of them quickly convering on Lyon. The murmurs resumed, even among the remaining Elements, though theirs were more questioning, more concerned, but they said and did nothing beyond that.

"Princess Celestia, please! You have to listen to what Lyon has to say!" Spike repeated.

"I'm afraid Twilight has told me more than a fair share of nonsense," Celestia rebutted softly to Spike before turning to the guards. "Take him to the royal chambers. I wish to talk to him in private after this is over."

"Yes, ma'am."

The four guards grabbed Lyon, who immediately began to struggle against their grasps, but they were far too strong.

"Let me go!" Lyon shouted repeatedly, but they refused to listen, slowly dragging him out of the hall.

Some of the wedding crowd laughed softly at the scene that unfolded before them. Applejack watched in disappointment, or what looked like it. Rarity glared and scoffed.

"Sheesh," Rainbow Dash muttered loudly, "what a killjoy."

And Lyon could feel it again. That bubbling feeling, the same feeling he got when those three strangers crept their way into his mind, telling them to get out. He felt hot, his head hurt. And his eyes glowed again.

"I... said... LET ME GO!"

A great flash of light filled the hall for a fraction of a second, and a loud boom shook the place. When it was over, nothing was damaged or out of place, but the four guards that held Lyon were now all several feet away, knocked to the floor and reeling in pain, while Lyon himself stood on all fours, sucking in breath.

The hall went entirely silent. There were no laughs, no murmurs, no bickering, and no shouting; the only thing that persisted were the stares of every single person there, and Lyon's silent breaths.

The glow faded, but it did not leave him.

"I have been kidnapped, shot at—I've had guards threaten to kill me, I damaged royal property, and I had a bunch of freaks swimming around in my head with their magic! And half of them didn't even have horns!"

Lyon stepped forward, each plop of a hoof more of a stomp the closer he got, and his voice growing with intensity. Not even Celestia, the one that could easily put him in his place, did anything to hinder him. It might have been the glowing eyes that kept her from doing anything.

"My best friend is missing, and for all I know, she could be dead, and this freak," Lyon emphasized, pointing to Cadance, "probably killed her, and now she's trying to act all innocent about it! And the worst part of about it is, all of you are too stupid to even figure that out! If you actually figured it out, you wouldn't have abandoned your best friend when she needed you the most!"

The stallion shook almost feverishly, his breath escaping him faster than he could take it in. Nopony said anything for a moment. Cadance looked at him with faux sorrow. He could see that. The Elements stood in place, too afraid to move.

"Twilight is missing?" Celestia spoke silently, yet worriedly.

Lyon scoffed. "Now you care about her? Where was that kind of care yesterday?" Before she could respond, he beat her to the punch. "She's been missing since yesterday. I tried looking for her, me and Spike. We were jumped by a bunch of goons. But I guess because Twilight was 'so paranoid,' you didn't even bother to check up on her, did you?"

"Lyon..." he heard Spike call quietly to him. He turned, only to see Spike aiming at his own face. "Your eyes..."

Holding up a hoof to his face, he realized a faint glowing reflection bounced off it.

"And this..." Lyon turned to Cadance. "What is this? What did you do to me?"

"I... I don't..." She struggled to say anything, but a quick look at her face could show she was merely putting on a performance. And yet the audience ate it up like it was candy going out of style.

Celestia stood behind Lyon, her voice hinged on concern, yet unwilling to let her regal appearance falter for just a moment. "And do you have any evidence to support these claims?"

Lyon grit his teeth behind his closed mouth for a moment, letting his frustration nearly get to him. How dare she? After everything I just said, everything she saw, she still refuses to believe me?! Why else would Twilight not be here?!

But he felt his ears twinge a bit as a thought came to him. Wait... of course! he thought as he reached into the satchel still nestled on his back. Celestia watched on. Everyone watched on, all curious as to what he could possibly be looking for. After a moment of searching and hoping, successfully he pulled out a small crystal, the exact same crystal from Twilight's bedroom chamber. He was lucky they hadn't bothered to search his bags!

It was almost worth the change in expression on Cadance's face.

"What's the matter, Cadance?" Lyon asked almost mockingly. "Know what this is, do ya?"

Celestia was the one to answer instead. "That's a holographic crystal. Those are... exceptionally rare. How... and why... do you have that?"

"Ask your niece," Lyon jested, yet honestly, "it's hers, after all."

Hopping down the altar steps, Lyon tapped the crystal a few times and let it fall to the floor. A second later, the crystal whirred itself to life, emitting a powerful burst of energy that shot upward, revealing the familiar image of Twilight Sparkle, a full three-dimensional rendition of her, crying behind her hooves. Collective gasps and awes filled the room again as the loop of Twilight sobbing played for several moments. Any expressions of doubt or frustration or anger on any of the Elements' faces quickly disappeared.

Celestia still held some doubt in her eyes, but they conflicted with everything else, warring against the other thoughts in her head. At times, Lyon caught her looking at the facade in front of her, then back to Cadance, and still she couldn't believe it, or maybe she did and simply refused to believe it.

Several moments later, the image of Twilight glitched out and shut itself down. Lyon sighed and picked up the crystal. As satisfied as he was that this was out in the open, seeing and hearing Twilight cry like that kept haunting him. He hoped now that everything had finally been exposed, Celestia would start a search, lock up the faker, find Twilight and the real Cadance, and everything would be back to—

"How dare you?"

... normal.

"... What?"

Cadance stomped her hoof against the marble. "I said how DARE you?! How DARE you accuse me of such things?! Such... such a scandal?!"

"Accuse?! I just showed everyone in this room what you did! What you're capable of!"

"What part of that ever proved it was me?!" Cadance screamed. "All you did was show a hologram, and that was enough for you to paint me as a monster?! In front of everypony here?! In front of my husband?!"

Lyon reared back slightly, but kept his stance. He didn't react greatly, but the overall reaction from the crowd seemed to stir in the alicorn's favor. He knew what kind of game she was already starting to play, and he didn't like it.

He realized she wasn't entirely wrong, either.

"You and Twilight feel so determined to take everything I hoped for—everything I ever wanted for this day—and shred it like it's nothing but scrap paper! It seems like all you ever want now is just to have the attention all on you, all on her, to get your 15 minutes of fame and then hop off into the sunset like you saved the world! It's like all you want is to ruin my big day and turn it into a laughingstock!"

This time, Cadance was the one walking towards Lyon, even as Celestia initially told her to stay. The crowds surrounding them murmured to each other, while Lyon sat in silence, growing nervous on the inside as the audience seemingly turned against him with every word that escaped the mare's throat.

"All I wanted was one day where I could be the happiest mare in the world! To not be afraid to stand with my husband and be proud! To be HAPPY! And you took it from me!"

Lyon glanced at the crowd, and among his friends. All of them glared now, but not at Cadance. At him. They glared at him. The only one out of the crowd that didn't do so was Spike, and it was because he was the only one who knew the real story. He hoped he never spoke up out of fear. Already, ponies were taking Cadance's side again. He turned to Celestia, hoping she could at least hold some reasonable doubt, enough to warrant an investigation.

She glared at him too. He felt alone, now.

How could they be so gullible?

"Cadance," Shining Armor said in an almost monotonous tone, though nopony seemed to notice. "It's okay. Come back up here. It's okay."

Crocodile tears shed from her eyes as the alicorn ran back up the altar and into Shining's arms. Negative whispers surfed across the room, and Lyon could practically feel the glares beating down on him. He stared at Cadance with discontent, but he knew he no longer had any leverage.

You and Twilight...

"... Then where's Twilight?"

It seemed to get Cadance's attention, and the whispers dimmed. "What?"

"You said me and Twilight were desperate to get our 15 minutes of fame, because we're so determined to ruin your special day! Right?" She didn't say anything. "Then where is she?"

Suddenly, Lyon bonked his head with a hoof.

"Oh, silly me, I guess I forgot like everypony else that she's missing! Why would I make that up?! Why would I make up the fact that my best friend is nowhere to be found and could probably be dead?!" The stallion paused, pointing a hoof up to Cadance. "I know what little game you're playing at, and I'm not gonna sit here and let you take the high road! If you lay even a hoof on my Twilight, I swear I'll—"

"Your Twilight?" she rebutted in a less-than-sad tone, earning at least a faint glance from Celestia.

"Yes. My Twilight. Not a clone, not a fake, not whatever in Tartarus you are... I want My. Twilight. Sparkle. Back! So where is she?! Where is Twilight Sparkle?!"

Suddenly, the doors at the end of the wedding hall burst open for a second time, and the sound of trotting and a slide against the marble floor could be heard.

"Stop!"

The voice was familiar. All too familiar. Everyone in the hall turned to the open doors to see...

"Twilight...?" Lyon said weakly.

"Twilight!" Spike yelled as he ran over to the lavender unicorn, who openly embraced the young drake in a hug. Surprised chatter filled the hall, and even the Elements looked at each other, unsure of how to feel. No doubt, everything felt so conflicted.

Lyon approached her slowly. "Twilight? Twilight Twilight?"

Looking up, she grinned. "Yeah, it's me—"

She couldn't finish before she was suddenly embraced in a tight hug by the stallion, who let out all his breath. To Twilight, it was as if he suddenly felt lighter.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I tried looking for you. Spike and I, we tried to find you, but we got ambushed and... I thought..."

"It's okay. It's not your fault. It's not your fault..."

Lyon felt himself breathing heavily again, the emotional strain trying to leave and come back altogether. He didn't care, though. As long as she was here, as long as she was alright, he didn't care now.

"You see?!" Cadance screeched from the altar, forcing Twilight and Lyon apart. "They did this on purpose! They only did this to make this their big day! They planned it from the start!"

She started to cry again, even as Shining rubbed her back in a robotic fashion.

"Why can't you just let me have my special day?!"

"Because it's not your special day!" Cadance's familiar voice boomed... but not from her.

Turning to the doors again, everyone watched as an equally identical alicorn stormed inside and glared at the mare at the altar.

"It's mine!"

A chorus of gasps swarmed the room, and everyone found themselves looking at each other, as if doing double, triple, even septuple checks to see if what they were looking at was reality. Even Lyon, despite knowing he and Twilight were right, had trouble realizing he was still awake.

And Cadance dropped the charade. No point now, was there?

"What?" She stared in disbelief at the matted alicorn before her. "But how did you escape my bridesmaids?"

From there, the real Cadance went into detail on how they escaped their pursuers, down deep within the Crystal Caves. The mention of the caves themselves caught Lyon's attention, and already he could feel the guilt hang him down. Every time Spike had an idea, he was always right about it.

Note to self, he thought somberly.

"Hmph. Clever," Cadance admitted sarcastically, "but you're still too late."

Applejack stepped forward, shaking her head in disbelief. "I-I don't understand. How can there be two of 'em?"

She's a changeling!" Cadance exclaimed. "She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them!"

The duplicate Cadance standing on the altar grimaced bitterly at the alicorn, her eyes quickly turning from a familiar purple, into an equally familiar green. The very same green harbored by Lyon's pursuers, he realized.

Suddenly, a ring of green fire circled across Cadance, engulfing her in seconds. Despite this, she did not scream, did not yelp in pain or agony.

Instead, she laughed.

In an instant, a beam of light burst upward, and behind it, Cadance changed before everyone's eyes. Her luscious pink wings shed themselves into an ugly mess of tattered wings that resembled an insect's. Her hooves and body, enveloped by the fire, turned into a gangrenous black with holes scattered around at random. Her horn cracked and curved into that of a dagger that glistened from nothing.

Then her eyes... her laugh... Why did it look... so...

No.... It can't be....

Lyon froze in place, gripping Twilight firmly out of fear, and she noticed it. She asked him what was wrong, why his eyes looked so scared, that indicated determination faded away and leaving a shell in its wake. But Lyon didn't listen. He didn't hear her, or he thought he didn't hear her. Everyone was gone, in his eyes. Equestria was gone, Applejack was gone, Rarity was gone. Twilight was gone.

All he could do, with nothing but terror flowing through his body, was stare.

And the monster stared back.

Comments

[Muramasa]

"We don't have to lay a hoof on anyone. At least... not physically. I'm afraid your "friend" is in dire need of some... reeducation."

The mention of “re-education” is intriguing. Is there something about this Twilight we don’t know about?

[I Am The Night]

9911690

Honestly, I hadn't even thought about it. But it's really just a euphemism for them saying, "We're taking your friend and brainwashing her so she doesn't blab her mouth about our plans."