The Mixer Chronicles

by Mixer

Canterlot Wedding: Part 1

Book Four: Canterlot Wedding
Part 1

It had been three months since my arrival in Equestria. Three very long months. At first the business of settling into my new house and getting on my hooves financially was enough to keep me occupied, but as it dragged on into my second month, and I was starting to do some good. if light, business, I began to think of home. By the time month three hit, I was starting to become depressed, despite occasional visits from Twilight and her friends. Even a visit to Canterlot was not enough to lift my spirits for very long.

One of those days in the third month I was not feeling up to work and Twilight had come over to check up on me.

“Mixer, I‘m a little worried about you. I’ve heard that you’ve been coming up late for business and my friends say that you’ve been kind of down when they come to visit,” she said, taking a seat on the couch.

I didn’t want to worry her too much so I tried to convince her I was alright, “It’s nothing to worry about Twilight, just a little homesick is all. I’m sure it’ll pass in a few days,” taking a seat on the other end of the couch.

“But it’s already been a week and Pinkie said you didn’t let her in the other day when she came to visit.”

“Well that’s Pinkie, she can be a little grating on me at times.”

“That’s not really an excuse to not let her in.”

I gave a sigh, “It’s alright Twilight, really. I appreciate your concern, but there’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“I don’t know... How about I come check on you tomorrow to see if you’re feeling better?”

“That sounds just fine Twilight.”

She got up from the couch and made her way to the door, “Alright, I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Bye Twilight,” I waved from the couch.

She lingered for a moment with the door open, taking one last searching look at me before closing the door and leaving.

When I was sure she was gone, I let out a heavy sigh. I didn’t want Twilight fretting over me so much. It was almost embarrassing.

I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes for a nap, hoping that maybe I would feel better afterwards. Sadly, I was mistaken and my mood was little improved, and most of the day had been wasted.

Feeling even more dejected, I went up to my room and went through some of my things, tidying up to keep myself busy. It wasn’t long, however, before I began to grow bored with the endeavor and stopped. It was frustrating not even having the ambition to finish simple tasks, but that just made me feel worse.

Since I was bored and had skipped lunch with my nap, I decided to make myself something to eat. Thankfully, the need for food outweighed anything else, and I was able to make a good enough dinner, just a couple of daisy sandwiches, but it was something in my stomach.

Even though I had taken a nap earlier, I felt tired, and so I trudged up the stairs to my room and laid down on the bed. It was pretty comfortable, nothing like the beds in the castle in Canterlot, but it was nice and soft, and big enough that I had room to toss and turn without falling out of bed.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, it only seemed like a few seconds before I woke up again to the morning sun.

I let out a groan, knowing that Twilight would be coming to check on me today, and knowing that she wouldn’t leave until she was sure I was better, or until I agreed to let her take me to a doctor or something. Being that I didn’t think she needed to make such a fuss about it, and hoping that her finding me not at home would dissuade her from pressing the issue, I went outside and took a walk by the Everfree.

The Everfree Forest was something of an anomaly. All the ponies in Ponyville feared it, mostly because of it having independant weather systems and dangerous creatures. I found it less frightening and more intriguing, but there is a fine line between curiosity and foolhardiness, so I usually kept my distance. Today though, I was able to take a good look at it while I was walking.

The trees on the very edge looked very similar to those in Ponyville, if a little overgrown and unkempt. Beyond the fringes though, I could see that the forest quickly darkened, and the plant life on the ground grew wild and unruly. A pony with the right skills could find many exotic flora in the Everfree, which is why I’m sure Zecora established her hut there, close to as many of the most hard to reach plants as possible.

After about half an hour, I had walked almost the edge of the Everfree and Ponyville when I heard somepony’s calls on the wind. It was faint, but I could barely make out somepony calling my name. It appeared that Twilight was going looking for me, and had more than likely recruited her friends to help her.

Were I in a better mood, then maybe I would have come to their calls and explained things, but at the time, I was in no disposition to explain myself, so I decided that I would find someplace to wait them out. To that end, I decided to find a tree near Fluttershy’s cottage that I could climb without too much trouble and wait for Fluttershy to return home, signaling that they were done trying to find me, and I could walk back home.

Much to my delight, I was able to make it without being bothered and found a nice low branch on a tree that was wide enough for me to lay on. Much to my dismay, however, Twilight seemed determined to fine me, and when it was well past noon, there was still no sign of Fluttershy’s return, and I began to doze in the warm sun.

I must have fallen asleep, because I was woken by Fluttershy’s voice.

“What is it Angel bunny?”

I cursed inwardly, I had forgotten about the rabbit. I had only seen Angel once or twice before, and from the first time I saw him, I knew, it was hate at first sight. And the feeling was mutual.

I watched with baited breath as the small white demon tried to tell Fluttershy where I was, and after a minute or so, she looked up in my direction to see me staring down at her.

“Mixer? What are you doing up there?” she asked as she fluttered up to my height, hovering in the air.

If it were anypony but Fluttershy, I would have felt wine telling them a lie or half truth, but it made me feel guilty thinking about lying to Fluttershy, so I settled for looking away and saying nothing. The pinnacle of maturity, I know.

“Twilight’s been worried sick about you. We’ve been looking all day for you,” she said, her voice gentle, but laced with concern.

“I... wanted to be alone,” I said lamely.

“Then why didn’t you just say something? I’m sure Twilight would have left you alone if you just asked.”

“Well, I thought she’d press the matter and insist I see a doctor or something. I know she’s concerned, but I don’t need her fretting over me like that,” I said, sitting up on the branch. It actually felt good to tell somepony about my troubles, and Fluttershy was easy to talk to.

“Why didn’t you tell her yourself?”

I let out a sigh, “Because, I didn’t think she’d listen, so I avoided her instead of arguing.”

Fluttershy, perched carefully upon the branch, now that there was more room. “Why don’t you come down from the tree and go talk to Twilight? I’m sure that if you tell her what’s on your mind she’ll listen.”

“I’m sorry to say this Fluttershy, but I don’t think she will. And at besides, she’ll be mad at me for making her worry so much.”

“All the more reason to talk to her now,” Fluttershy said with a kind smile.

Her patience with me was touching. I’d never really known anypony who would put up with so much and still be so kind. I actually shed a tear.

“Why are you crying?” She asked, her voice edged with concern again.

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, “Well, I’ve never had anypony to talk to before, not like this. And you’ve put up with me, even though I’m difficult.”

“That’s what friends are for,” she said, giving me a short hug. “Now, how about I help you down from this tree and we go talk to Twilight?”

I nodded, “Alright.”

So, Fluttershy helped me get down from the tree, which was thankfully easy, and we made our way to the Library. As you could expect, Twilight gave me a tongue lashing, but Fluttershy helped keep it to a minimum, and before long I was trotting happily out of the library with Fluttershy.

“Thank you Fluttershy, I’m not sure if I would have been able to do that without your help.”

She smiled at me, “No trouble at all, I’m just glad everypony’s happy.”

I gave her a hug, “And I am, so Twilight doesn’t have to worry about me anymore, and I can get back to work.” I thought I saw a tinge of blush grace her cheeks for a moment, but it must have been a trick of the light in the setting sun.

“Goodbye, Mixer.”

“Bye Fluttershy,” I called as I waved. I didn’t know what it was, but Fluttershy had made me feel happy again. As time went on though, I found out why. I found that I had started to fall in love with her. Unfortunately, I had a busy schedule most of the time, and couldn’t find time to properly express my feelings for her.

Two months later, it seemed I had missed my chance when I had gotten an offer to take my business to Canterlot.

I was stunned to get the offer, but apparently, good word of my work had reached Canterlot, and somepony wanted me to move in. I was hesitant, but I needed the bits if I was going to look into finding a way home, so I accepted. Within a week of moving to Canterlot, I had an actual store set up, and was making good business with the high society.

I sent a few letters back to Ponyville, after all, I did still have good friends there. I didn’t get much back however, and soon, I was getting too many orders to have time to write letters. I was a little sad, but my work kept me going, even though so far, my attempts at finding a way back to New Pegisopolis were coming up empty.

--

I was just getting ready to close my shop after a solid twenty four hours of attending to customers. Apparently, there were whispers of a wedding, and everypony wanted extra coat care products. I’d started that side project shortly after getting to Canterlot, but I ended up being almost exclusively devoted to making beauty supplies for the local salons and private buyers alike. I’d even had Prince Blueblood come to my store once after some debacle with his normal store. Apparently, they had given him some bad hoof cream or something. I didn’t pay much attention to the details, as it was more whining that anything. In the end though, he paid a good sum, and went away slightly less whiny.

As I was about to lock up shop, there was a knock at the door, so I went to see who it was. I found a mailpony holding a letter.

“I have a letter for a mister Mixer,” he said.

“I’m Mixer,” I replied, taking the envelope.

He tipped his hat to me and went on his way.

I finished locking up the store and opened the envelope on my way back to my apartment. Houses were at a premium in Canterlot, so I decided it was more prudent to pay a monthly rent then spend all my bits on a house that would be empty most of the day.

As I pulled out the contents, I noticed that it was an invitation, more of a notice really, to the wedding of Shining Armor and a Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. I was not familiar with this “Princess Cadenza” but I had heard of Shining Armor, and a wedding of that stature would no doubt be a grand spectacle. I was not accustomed to weddings, and decided not to attend the vows, but arrive for the reception. If anypony was curious as to why I didn’t show up, then I could just say that I was busy. I looked back at the notice and saw the date and time of the wedding, in a mere two days.

And for the first day, I was inundated with work again. Last minute orders and ponies buying what I had left in stock mostly, but it was enough to keep my busy.

On the second day, I closed the shop, and most other places were doing the same. It seemed that everypony was going to spend all day preparing for the wedding the next day. I even decided to take some spare bits I saved up and get a tuxedo for the occasion. I even took the time to get my mane somewhat styled. I usually didn’t care what my mane looked like, but I hadn’t exactly been keeping up on my personal grooming with work running me ragged, and I knew it was in poor taste to look disheveled in front of royalty.

The next morning, all of Canterlot was bustling with activity. Ponies dressed in finery of all varieties were bustling about, trying to fit in visits to one place or another before the wedding. What was odd though, was the fact that there was a magical barrier around the city. When they put it up, the guards had come around saying that it was a precaution, and everypony took it at that, but it made me wonder why they had it up only now, and not all the time. Maybe it was hard to keep up, so they only used it for occasions when a lot of important ponies are gathered in one place.

When it was almost noon, I began ambling my way towards the castle. The vows were going to be done soon, or so the schedule said, and the reception was going to start at 1, so I was trying to arrive around 12:30. Then I heard it, almost imperceptible at first, but then everypony heard it. There was a great cracking sound as the barrier over the city gave way and swarms of black bug-like creatures descended on the city.

They were horrific, insectoid ponies, at least they looked somewhat like ponies. They had a greyish green or black exoskeleton, with veined green wings, like a bee almost. They made a sound like bees when they flew too, a loud buzzing noise that permeated the air. They also had horns, and some were cloaked in green magic as they came hurtling down like meteors into the city. The most disturbing thing about them was their pupil-less eyes, just a wall of cloudy blue-grey.

They weren’t individually strong, as the guards and even ponies who were brave enough to fight, like myself, were able to dispatch a few, but for every one that somepony could take down, there were five more waiting to fill its place. They had too great of numbers to fight, and just as they were about to overcome me and do Celestia knows what with me, there was a pulse of pinkish energy emanating from the Castle. The blast seemed only to affect the insect like creatures, who I later found out were called changelings, and blasted them away like hay in a hurricane.

Ponies flocked to the castle to find out what had happened. I was among them, especially wanting to know what in Tartarus had just happened.
As the ponies arrived at the castle, it had appeared that the wedding had been interrupted, and that there would be an explanation after the wedding, which went off without a hitch. The reception was a great party held in the castle garden. It was almost like the Grand Galloping Gala that I had hear about. The music was provided by a DJ named Vinyl Scratch from Ponyville, that is, with a little help from Pinkie Pie. By the end of the night, I had worn myself out dancing and partying and gladly fell asleep in my apartment.

Best. Day. Ever!