> The Bridesmaids
>  by Zeck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> It's In Her Eyes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The sun had gone down about two hours ago. Princess Luna’s starry night was in full swing, and the city of Canterlot was surprisingly empty. Of course, that was probably because of the upcoming wedding. Guards were stationed everywhere, and while a curfew wasn’t being enforced, it was still being highly suggested that ponies stick to one.
Which was why Bon Bon found it so odd that she and Lyra were out walking the streets. The city seemed to be a ghost town, with stern-faced guards on street corners being the only others out. 
“So…what are we doing again?” the Earth pony asked ask she smiled meekly at a guard they walked past.
“Princess Cadance asked me to come see her tonight,” Lyra said with a smile. She was really excited to be in the Princess’s wedding, and Bon Bon had to admit that she was a little jealous. Still, at least she got to see Lyra is a bridesmaid’s outfit, and that was a rare sight. The Unicorn didn’t usually wear anything fancy, let alone a full dress. 
“Right,” Bon Bon said as the two continued to walk the streets. “But what I mean is, why is she asking to see you tonight? The wedding’s tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be resting? Shouldn’t she be resting? Weddings take a lot out of you from what I hear, and she’s going to need all the rest she can get.”
“Oh, relax,” Lyra said with a wave of her hoof. “It’s only ten. She’ll be fine.”
“If you say so,” Bon Bon mumbled. “Just remember, you have to stay up on stage the entire time, no breaks. So if you get tired, that’s your problem. I’ll be safely in the audience, where I can get a water break or doze off as I please.”
“As if you’d miss one second of me in that outfit,” Lyra said, her eyes narrowing and a grin spreading across her face.
“Sh-shut up,” Bon Bon said as her cheeks warmed. Lyra could read her like a book, and sometimes that gave her an unfair advantage. 
“Are you cold?” the Unicorn asked all of a sudden.
“No,” Bon Bon said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s rather warm, actually. I think that protective spell is keeping a lot of the heat in.” She looked up. There was a light pink shell surrounding the city. She and Lyra had had to pass through it when they had arrived last week. It was apparently being held up by the groom to keep out some vague threat that had been made. Bon Bon found the thing rather silly. This was a famous event. Of course there was always going to be one crazy pony out there spewing nonsense.
Still, she was grateful. Lyra was in the wedding after all, and she didn’t know what she’d do if something happened and Lyra was hurt. Or worse.
“Are you sure you’re not cold?” Lyra asked, stepping closer and wrapping her tail around Bon Bon’s flank and nuzzling her mane. 
“You know, I am suddenly rather chilly,” Bon Bon replied with a smile, wrapping her own tail around Lyra. She tilted her head slightly so she was resting on Lyra’s neck and closed her eyes, listening to their hoofsteps echo through the street. 
They walked on without saying a word for a while, Lyra humming a tune and Bon Bon simply enjoying the company of her love. Eventually, Lyra nuzzled Bon Bon’s head again.
“We’re here,” she whispered.
Bon Bon blinked a few times to wake herself up.  She hadn’t realized she had been falling asleep. Before her stood the grandeur of Canterlot Castle. She had never entered the place before, and she had to admit that it was a bit intimidating. 
“Wow,” she whispered as she strained her neck to look up at the spires. 
“Well, let’s go,” Lyra said, beginning to ascend the stairs to door. “We don’t want to keep Cadance—er, I mean, Princess Cadance waiting.”
Bon Bon slowly followed Lyra up the stairs, all the while looking everywhere she could to take in the castle’s sights. Elaborate wooden doors with intricate designs greeted her once she reached the top of the stairs. The guards there opened them without a word, and as the two ponies walked into the castle, the doors closed behind them.
The grand hall was deafeningly quiet, and seemed to stretch on forever into the darkness. The stain glass windows that Bon Bon had heard so much about were unfortunately dark and dim, with no torches or lamps keeping them lit. She thought that was a shame, but she reminded herself that she’d get to see them tomorrow in the daylight, so it was something to look forward to. 
“Her room’s this way,” Lyra said, taking a left and heading down a side hall. She used her horn to cast a small light spell, dispelling the shadows and giving the place a much warmer feel. Bon Bon trotted to catch up with her and found herself huddling close to the Unicorn, despite the fact that she was in the safest city in all of Equestria. There was just something creepy about a castle at night, she decided. 
At the far end of the hall they could see light slipping out through the bottom of a door. It spilled into the hallway and offered much more illumination than the few torches that were scattered around the hall. 
And in that light stood two familiar ponies.
“Hey Minuette!” Lyra said as she waved her hoof in excitement. “Good evening, Berry.”
“Hello Lyra,” Minuette replied with a perfect smile. 
“Cadance called you two here too, huh?” Berry Punch said, and Bon Bon was surprised to see that she was completely sober.
“It’s Princess Cadance, Berry,” Minuette whispered loudly. “You promised.”
“On, come on,” Berry said with a grin. “Princess Cadance seems like a great pony. Any pony who can drink you under the table like that can’t be too big on titles. Loosen up a bit, okay?”
Minuette’s ears went down and she looked at the floor in embarrassment. Bon Bon giggled slightly as she recalled the night of Princess Cadance’s bachelorette party. She had gone to pick up Lyra because the Unicorn hadn’t come back to the hotel yet. On here way there, she had passed Berry Punch carrying a very drunk Minuette on her back. Usually it was the reverse. 
“That was a fun night, wasn’t it?” Lyra said, and Bon Bon saw that she was blushing too and scratching the back of her neck.
“At least the parts you can remember,” Bon Bon teased, nudging Lyra in the ribs. 
“How were we supposed to know that Alicorn drink is a billion times stronger than regular cider?” Lyra protested.
“Oh, it wasn’t all bad,” Berry said as she slid up next to Minuette. “I got to see a very entertaining show.” She whipped her tail and it slapped Minuette’s flank. The blue Unicorn jumped and her eyes went wide, then she glared at her wife. 
“You said you’d never tell anypony about that!” Minuette said.
“And I didn’t,” Berry said with a smile. “Of course, if you want me to give them the details, I certainly wouldn’t mind. Just thinking about it gets me excite—mmph!”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Minuette said, shoving her hoof in Berry’s mouth and smiling weakly at Bon Bon and Lyra. “Let’s, uh…see what Cadance wanted, shall we?”
“I thought it was Princess Cadance,” Berry teased as Minuette opened the door to the room.
“Actually, it is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
All four ponies froze. Princess Cadance was standing in the middle of her room, her face a mask of displeasure. She was standing as tall as she could, her head raised slightly so that she was looking down her nose as the ponies before her. Her presence screamed arrogance and contempt, and it was all Bon Bon could do to keep from shrinking back. Was this really the same pony that Lyra talked about with such admiration? The same embarrassed Princess Bon Bon had met over the weekend, who had apologized again and again for Lyra’s condition at her party? 
“Where have you two been? I sent for you nearly an hour ago,” Princess Cadance said, and all four ponies flinched at her tone. 
“Uh, sorry, Cadance,” Lyra said. “I-I mean, Cadenza,” she corrected when the Princess gave her a look. 
“Our hotel’s a bit of a walk away, and it was such a lovely night,” Minuette added. 
“Twinkleshine arrived promptly,” Princess Cadenza said, stepping aside to reveal the cream colored Unicorn. She blinked once, but didn’t say anything. “What kept you two?”
“Um…our apologies, Your Majesty,” Minuette said, bowing.
“Yeah, sorry,” Lyra said, looking at Bon Bon quickly. 
“See that it doesn’t happen again.”
“Woah,” Berry said, stepping between Princess Cadenza and the rest of the group. “Slow down there. Princess or not, no pony talks to my mare like that.”
“What Berry means, Your Majesty,” Bon Bon said, stepping in front of Berry and pushing the pony back slightly before an incident happened that they would all regret, “is that you seem to be over-reacting a bit. Your message didn’t say this was urgent or anything, so we didn’t rush right over. We’re sorry.” 
Princess Cadenza blinked several times and studied Bon Bon. “Who are these ponies?” she asked after a moment of silence. 
“Oh, well, I’m Bon Bon, Lyra’s marefriend—”
“Marefriend?” the Alicorn said, raising and eyebrow. 
“Um, yes?” Bon Bon said. Did she really not remember that Lyra and her were an item?
“And I’m Berry Punch,” Berry said from behind her, her voice low. “Minuette’s wife. We met last weekend, at your party.” 
Princess Cadenza blinked again, and then her expression changed. “Oh, of course,” she said. “Forgive me, but my memory from that night is…a little hazy. I’m sure you can understand.” She smiled and Bon Bon thought the expression looked…wrong. Like she was uncomfortable. 
“It’s…fine, Your Highness,” Bon Bon said. “So, um…what did you need to see us for?”
“Not you two,” Princess Cadenza said, her expression instantly back to that stand-offish mare. “Just my bridesmaids.”
“Yeah, of course we know that,” Lyra said, trying to break the tension. “So, what did you need, Princess?”
Princess Cadezna stared at Bon Bon and Berry for a few more seconds, then turned her gaze to the two Unicorns. “I’m afraid there have been some…minor changes to the dresses. I need you three to come with me to get them resized. I don’t want my three favorite girls looking anything less than perfect for my wedding.”
“Oh, is that all?” Minuette said, visibly relaxing and letting out a relieved sigh. “Sure, we can do that.”
“But is there going to be enough time?” Lyra asked. “I mean, the wedding’s tomorrow. Are you sure that—”
“Are you questioning me?” the Princess demanded, stepping toward Lyra and towering over her. Bon Bon suddenly had the urge to smack her. 
“Uh, no, I’m just…worried. About the time-frame, that’s all. Like you said, we need everything to be perfect for your big day. I’d hate for the adjustments to not be done in time for the ceremony.”
“It will be fine,” Princess Cadenza said with a wave of her hoof. “Now, I’m afraid I must ask your…marefriend and your wife to leave. Wedding participants only.”
Bon Bon opened her mouth to protest. She suddenly wasn’t comfortable leaving Lyra alone with this Princess, but Cadenza had a point. It was tradition for only ponies in the wedding to deal with the outfits. Besides, Lyra wasn’t alone. She would be with Minuette and Twinkleshine. She’d be fine.
Bon Bon kept telling herself that as she and Berry turned and left the room, but she found that she was having a hard time believing it. She turned to say good-night to her marefriend, but the door slammed in her face. 
“She’s lucky it’s her wedding,” Berry growled at the door, her nostrils flaring as she breathed. “Otherwise, she’d be in a world of hurt right now.”
“I’m sure she’s just stressed,” Bon Bon said, hoping to calm the pony down before she crashed through the door. “She was actually rather pleasant the first time we met.”
“So who the buck were we just talking to?” Berry asked, her heading whipping around to face Bon Bon. “Because that pony is a total bi—”
“Okay, calm down, Berry,” Bon Bon said, afraid that the Princess might overheard them. “Let’s just get going. I’m sure the girls will be back in a little bit. Measurements shouldn’t take too long. How about we get a drink while we wait?”
“Fine,” Berry Punch grumbled as she stocked down the hall. Bon Bon scrambled to catch up with her as she stormed out of the castle, drawing a few startled looks from the guards. Bon Bon smiled at them and then ran after the Earth Pony.
“Berry, slow down!” she said as she finally caught up with her just outside of the castle. “Do you even know where you’re going?”
“There has to be a bar or something around here,” the mare said, stopping just long enough for Bon Bon to catch up, then moving forward again as she scanned the city. “It’s Canterlot, after all.” 
Bon Bon suddenly realized that she had probably made a huge mistake. Berry Punch wasn’t exactly the most…controlled when it came to drinks, even when she was in a good mood. And right now she was fuming, and mixing any type of drink with that could only end in disaster. 
Bon Bon was about to open her mouth to suggest they forget the drinks, but she was too late.
“Ah, here we are,” Berry said. Bon Bon looked up. A small tavern stood before them, it’s wooden door cracked open and a warm glow spilling from inside. She could hear faint music coming inside. 
“Luna’s Rest,” Bon Bon said as she read the sign. She wondered if Princess Luna ever came here. It was certainly modeled after her, with its dark blues and twinkling gems adoring the small building. She was still wondering about that as her companion walked right through the door and disappeared. Bon Bon blinked twice and then trotted after her, dreading the situation she was about to find herself in. 
The place was deserted, save for the bartender. He stood behind the counter, polishing a glass. He was talking to Berry, and nodded toward Bon Bon as she entered, then went back to talking to the other mare, who was already seated at the bar. She really didn’t waste any time. Bon Bon sighed internally, walked toward the bar, and sat down next to Berry.
“What can I get you ladies?” the bartender asked. “You both look like you’ve had a rough night.”
“You could say that,” Bon Bon said nervously, waiting for the outburst that she knew as coming. She kept glancing at Berry, wondering how bad things were going to get before the two of them were able to return to their hotel rooms. “Wedding plans and whatnot.”
“Sounds rough,” the stallion said as he set the glass down. “You don’t mean the Princess’s wedding, do you?”
“If that’s what you want to call that mare,” Berry said, glaring at the counter. 
“That bad, huh?”
“Glass of cider, please.”
“Berry, I don’t think—wait, what?” Bon Bon said. 
“And for you, miss?”
“Uh…” Bon Bon looked at Berry, trying to figure out what game she was playing. Was she just going to order a single glass at a time? But she hadn’t asked for hard cider. “I’ll…have the same, thank you.”
“Two glasses of cider,” the bartender said. “On the house.” He poured them out and set the glasses in front of both mares, then conveniently found something else to clean at the other end of the bar. 
Berry Punch drank her entire glass in one swing, then slid the glass down the bar. Bon Bon waited for her to order another one, but she didn’t. She just sat at there, staring at the counter. 
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said after a moment. Bon Bon jumped and nearly knocked over her glass at the sound of Berry’s voice. 
“Uh…um, sorry,” Bon Bon said, taking a quick drink of cider to hide her embarrassment.
“I know that look,” Berry said as she continued to stare off into space. “You thought I was going to get drunk, didn’t you?”
“Well, I—”
“’Oh, Berry’s at it again. Crawling into a bottle.’ That’s what you thought. That’s what you all always think. I can see it in your eyes. In everypony’s eyes.” Berry turned and made eye contact with Bon Bon, and she was shocked to see tears building in the pinkish red eyes. “Everypony’s always looking at me like that…”
“Berry, I didn’t mean…” Bon Bon came up short. Berry was right. She had fully expected the pony to get completely drunk. She hadn’t even meant to think that. It was just what everypony always did around Berry Punch. They just assumed that she was always looking for a chance to get drunk. It had never occurred to Bon Bon that being seen that way might actually hurt Berry. “I’m sorry.”
“Everypony’s always looking at me like that,” she said again, lowering her head. “Like they think they’re better than me. Like they think I can’t take care of my daughter. Do you really think I would get wasted and leave Pinchy alone in a hotel room when Minuette isn’t around? Do you really think I’m that bad of a mother?”
Bon Bon wasn’t sure if Berry Punch was talking directly to her now, or just talking out loud, but she knew that Berry needed some support. “Berry, I think you’re a wonderful mother,” she said. “Pinchy is a beautiful little filly, and I’m sure you take great care of her.”
Berry sniffed and rubbed her rose and eyes, then looked up at Bon Bon and smiled. “Thanks, Bon Bon. Lyra said you always seemed to say the right thing.” Bon Bon felt her cheeks blushed. She wondered how many other things Lyra had told Berry and Minuette. “ It’s just…”
“Just what?” Bon Bon asked, taking another sip of her cider. 
“Minuette’s never looked at me like that. Not once. Even when I’m so drunk I don’t know what I’m doing, or when I come home late and can barely walk through the door, she’s never looked at me like all those other ponies do. When I look in her blue eyes, all I ever see is love. Granted, it’s often exhausted love, but it’s still love.”
“That sounds sweet,” Bon Bon said. She got a similar feeling when she looked into Lyra’s sunglow eyes.
“Do you have any idea what it was like, the first time I saw her look at me with those blue eyes? To finally see a pony who didn’t look at me with disgust, or contempt, or judgmental pity? To finally have a pair of eyes look at me and just be happy to see me? All the alcohol in the world can’t give me the same feeling.” A smirk came to her lips. “Believe me, I’ve tried.” 
Bon Bon snorted as she was taking a sip from her drink. Her eyes watered as the liquid went down her throat wrong and she spit the drink back into her glass. She started coughing as she tried to breathe. “I…I didn’t say…that!” she said between gasps. 
Berry laughed and slapped her on the back. “Relax, Bon Bon. I know what other ponies think of me, and the reputation isn’t exactly undeserved. It’s just…I like to think there’s more to me than just being the town drunk, but for a long time, I didn’t believe that. When Pinchy was born, I thought that would help, but it just made it worse.”
“But I thought Pinchy was—” Bon Bon started.
“Oh no, it wasn’t because of my little darling,” Berry said quickly, waving her hoof and smiling. “Her birth was the happiest day of my life and I’ve never regretted it for a moment. But the looks, the whispers, they got worse. Ponies thought I had no business raising her, being the way I am. But not Minuette. She made me believe that there was more to me again. She became a blinding source of light in my world. I know that sounds horrible, that Pinchy didn’t do that for me, but the truth is that I started to believe what other ponies were saying. Whenever I looked at my daughter, I worried that I wasn’t good enough for her, that she would be a screw up like me, or that I would hurt her. But Minuette brushed all that away with a simple smile, and—”
“And she’s been doing it ever since,” Bon Bon said as she nodded. It was true, now that she thought about it. Berry Punch had been a bit—okay, a lot—of a mess for a long time, but when Minuette had trotted into her life, the Earth pony had seemed happier. And when they had gotten married, Bon Bon had been truly happy for both of them. 
Berry smiled and her eyes seemed to fog over as she relived private memories, but then her face soured. “But then Cadenza tonight…”
Bon Bon nodded and drank the last of her cider. “She was rather rude.”
“You’re being too nice and you know it,” Berry Punch said. “If Minuette wasn’t so excited about being in this wedding, if she and Cadenza hadn’t gone to school together, I would drag her out of this wedding right now.”
“I’m sure Princess Cadance is just a little stressed,” Bon Bon whispered. She was playing the conversation with the Princess over again in her head, and she was starting to believe the stressed excuse less and less. Was Princess Cadance really just a stuck up Canterlot Royal Snob? But she had been so kind the other night at the bachelorette party. 
“There’s stressed, and there’s being…that,” Berry Punch spat. “Those eyes. Did you see them? Did you see what she did?”
“Um…no?” Bon Bon said. She tried to remember something about the Princess’s eyes, but nothing came to mind.
“When we told her who we were. Lyra’s marefriend and Minuette’s wife. She gave me that look. That same look that everypony is always giving me. But I can deal with that. I’ve been dealing with it for years. But no pony, and I mean no pony, looks at my Minuette like that. I don’t care if she is a Princess. If she ever looks at my wife that way again, I’ll kill her.”
“And then Princess Celestia would arrest you and throw you in the dungeon,” Bon Bon said. 
Berry shrugged. “I’m sure it’s a nice dungeon. Everything in Canterlot is always top-notch, after all. Probably has plush pillows and fluffy bed. And Minuette is more than capable of raising Pinchy for a few years.”
Bon Bon couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s morbid sense of humor. “You think assaulting—”
“Killing,” Berry corrected with a smile.
“Killing a Princess will only get you a few years in prison?”
“Well, I’m actually not very sure now that I think about it.” Berry put her hoof under her chin and pretended to be in serious thought. “Can you actually kill a Princess? I mean, does punching them in the face actually make them go unconscious? If I bit her throat, do you think she’d bleed out like a normal pony, or do you think she’d be fine?”
“That’s getting a little dark, Berry. And gross.”
“Yeah, probably not a good idea.” The mare made a disgusted face. “I don’t want to get any of her nasty blood in my mouth. Probably tastes worse than that time Minuette tried to make homemade wine. Celestia, that stuff was awful.” 
“Yeah, Lyra isn’t exactly the best cook in Equestria either,” Bon Bon added. “Sometimes I wonder if she even knows how a stove works.”  Both ponies burst into laughter and Bon Bon finally felt herself relaxing for the first time since she had left the castle. 
“Let’s face it. Those girls would starve to death without us,” Berry said as she wiped her eyes. 
“You know, I’ve often suspected that Lyra only stays with me because of my cooking,” Bon Bon whispered loudly. 
“Hm, I don’t know,” Berry said as a dangerous look came to her face, “I think Lyra does enjoy what she eats, food or not.”
Bon Bon’s face burned. She felt her ears go so flat and tight against her skull that they hurt. Her mane itched in ways it rarely did, and she could no longer look at Berry Punch’s smirking face. Her eyes darted around the room like wild animals as her tongue tied itself up in her rapidly drying mouth. She reached for her cider, but found that she had already drained the glass. Flustered to the point of despair, the cream colored Earth pony just hung her head and waited for her cheeks to stop burning. 
“That good, huh?” Berry asked between laughs. All Bon Bon could do was try to bury herself further into her seat as she let out a small squeak. “Well, I think it’s time to head back to the hotel. Pinchy should already be in bed, asleep, but if I know her, she’s wide awake and waiting by the door.  And who knows? Maybe the girls are back. Talking about them has made me rather—”
“For the love of Celestia, please stop,” Bon Bon begged. Thinking about Lyra in that way was not helping her calm down at all. 
“Right then. Better get you home quick.” Berry Punch slide off of her seat. “Sounds like an emergency.”
“Berry, I hate you so much,” Bon Bon growled as she slid off of her stool and hoped her legs were strong enough to support her. They were, but she still felt a little light-hoofed. She hoped Lyra was back, but not for the reason Berry Punch was implying. She just wanted to snuggle with her marefriend at the moment.
“That’s what I’m here for,” Berry said as she slapped Bon Bon’s flank with her tail, and Bon Bon let out a little yelp.
Okay, snuggle and then that other stuff.
The two mares left the small tavern, thanking the barkeeper as they did, and made their way back to the hotel. The city seemed eerily quiet and dark, and Bon Bon unconsciously drew closer to the pony walking next to her. She was surprised when she didn’t feel the comforting warmth of Lyra gently brushing up against her, but then she remembered who she was walking with. Blushing again, she pulled away just a little and the two mares walked back to the hotel in silence. 
“Good evening, ladies,” the front clerk said as Bon Bon and Berry Punch entered the lobby. “You are Guests Bon Bon and Berry Punch, if I am not mistaken?”
“That's us. Two of the sexiest mares in all of Equestria,” Berry said before Bon Bon could answer. 
The clerk just raised an eyebrow slightly. “I have a message for both of your. From Canterlot Castle, no less.” The way the clerk said the last word made it sound like he didn’t understand how a pony like Berry Punch could have anything to do with the castle. 
“What’s the message?” Bon Bon asked, stepping forward and slightly blocking Berry’s approach. She didn’t want the mare to embarrass her any more. She could only take so much, especially this late at night. 
“Here it is.” The clerk levitated a scroll onto the front desk. Bon Bon unrolled it and read its contents. Her heart sank as she finished.
“Don’t leave me hanging,” Berry said, poking her head over Bon Bon’s shoulder. She let out a low growl and then rested her chin on Bon Bon’s shoulder. “Well that would totally kill my buzz, if I had one.”
The note stated that Lyra and Minuette would be spending the night at the castle, helping Princess Cadenza—the more Bon Bon heard that name, the more she hated it—make some last-minute changes to her dress. 
Bon Bon felt tears beginning to form in her eyes, and she didn’t understand why. She blinked them away in frustration. “I’m going to bed,” she said as she left the lobby.
“Yeah, I need to tuck Pinchy in anyway. Girl’s probably bouncing on the couch right now,” Berry Punch added as she trotted to catch up. When they were safely out of earshot of the lobby clerk, she lowered her voice. “Hey, you okay girl?”
“I’m…” Bon Bon paused as she came to her door, her hoof resting on the handle but not pushing it open. “No, I’m not okay.” She turned around to look at Berry Punch and felt her face scowl. “I just can’t stand the thought that Lyra is spending the night in the presence of that…mare.”
Berry Punch chuckled. “I completely understand. Minuette’s going to be making this up to me for a looooong time, let me tell you. But it’s just for tonight.” Her familiar smirk came to her lips. “Although, if you really need some company, Pinchy can wait another ten minutes…”
Bon Bon knew the Earth pony was joking. She knew that, despite Berry Punch’s constant flirting and advances, she would never betray her wife that way. And she would never do anything that would hurt Lyra so badly. 
But still, she couldn’t help herself. Hanging around Berry Punch tonight was starting to rub off on her. “Only ten minutes? Boy, do I feel really sorry for Minuette now.”
Berry Punch offered a lopsided grin. “Good night, Bon Bon. Tomorrow’s the big day. See you then.” She turned and entered her room. Bon Bon heard her call out Pinchy’s name before the door closed. She turned to her own door and walked into her room. She walked to the bed and it became painfully obvious that it was meant to comfortably hold two ponies as she slipped under the covers. She sighed as she rolled over to look at the empty spot where a mint green unicorn was supposed to be staring back at her from. She reached out and brushed the pillow with her hoof, then slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep. 


Lyra Heartstrings watched the door close—as well as the flank of a certain cream colored pony—with a surprising amount of fear. She suddenly didn’t want to be alone in Canterlot Castle with Princess Cadance, or as she now insisted on calling herself, Cadenza. It was something about the Princess’s eyes, and the way they had looked at Lyra and Bon Bon when the word ‘marefriend’ had been uttered. They weren’t the same eyes that Lyra remembered from school, or even from the party the other night.
Lyra shook her head. It didn’t matter. Princess Cadenza had come dangerously close to crossing a line, and if she still wanted Lyra’s help with her wedding, she needed to apologize. Lyra turned around to say as much.
“Hey, Cadance?” Minuette said before Lyra had a chance to speak. “Um…look. I know you’re kind of stressed out about the wedding, but that was rather rude of you.”
Good. So I’m not the only one who noticed, Lyra thought. “Yeah. And earlier today, you shot down Rarity’s dress without a second thought. I mean, you barely even looked at it.”
“You’ve been kind of tough to deal with all week, actually,” Twinkleshine said, both to Lyra’s and Minuette’s surprise. When she saw both ponies looking at her in shock, she shrugged and pointed at the Alicorn. “What? She has.”
Lyra hadn’t wanted to say anything, especially not to Bon Bon, but this past week had been the most tiring of her life. Princess Cadenza had been running them ragged, constantly changing her mind about things or making unreasonable demands of them. The only thing that had kept Lyra going was seeing Bon Bon’s smile. Her marefriend was more excited about her being in the wedding than she was, and seeing the joy that that brought to her face made all of Cadenza’s drama more than worth it. 
But tonight was the last straw. The utter contempt that had been in Cadenza’s eyes when she had—apparently for the first time—found out that Lyra was into mares had broken her. She sighed deeply and looked at Minuette and Twinkleshine, then up at the Princess.
“Look, Cadance—”
“I told you to call me Mi Amore Cadenza.” 
“Whatever!” Lyra spat, her tail flipping up slightly as she stomped her front hooves. “Look, I think you need to find somepony else to be your bridesmaid. I’ve put up with a lot from you over the past week because we used to be friends back in school. But I saw the way you looked at my Bon Bon when she told you who she was. If she disgusts you that much, if I disgust you that much, then I don’t want to be in your wedding. I wouldn’t want to ruin it for you or anything.” Lyra turned to leave when she heard Minuette speak up. She was expecting the blue Unicorn to try and calm her down, but that wasn’t what she heard.
“Lyra’s right,” Minuette said. “I can put up with a lot. I’m married to Berry after all, and that mare is nothing if not a walking bag of headaches and trouble. But you know what? I love her anyway, and I wouldn’t change her or trade her for all the jewels in Equestria. So if Lyra and Bon Bon gross you out, the fact that we’re married must make your fur fall out.  I’d hate to ruin your big day like that, so I’m afraid I must step out of the wedding too.”
“I see,” Cadenza said, drawing up to her full height and suddenly looking much more frightening that Lyra had ever seen her. “And you, Twinkleshine? Do you feel the same?”
“Sorry, Princess Cadenza,” Twinkleshine said as she lowered her head. “But I think they’re right.”
“Very well, you are all out of the wedding.” 
And just like that, Lyra felt a burden lift from her shoulders. She had expected Cadance, or whoever she was, to put up a fight, to make some sort of fuss, but she just let them all go. Not sure what else to say, Lyra turned back to the door and started to leave, Minuette and Twinkleshine right behind her.
“And just where do you think you three are going?” Cadenza asked in a voice that wasn’t quite her own. 
“Um…back to our rooms?” Lyra said, turning around. She was about to say more, but she froze and her jaw dropped. Minuette and Twinkleshine looked at her in confusion, then turned around as well.
“Oh, you’re not going anywhere,” Cadenza said as she was slowly engulfed in green flames. “I need you three to go make sure Princess Cadance doesn’t ruin the Queen’s wedding.” 
Lyra watched in horror as Cadenza was slowly burned away by the green flames. What stood in her place was clearly supposed to be a pony, but she was a walking nightmare. Her coat was jet black. Her legs were filled with holes, and her horn was twisted and warped. Her wings were like a torn insect’s, and fangs protruded from her mouth. Her eyes, wide with wickedness and yet somehow lizard-like in appearance, glared at the three ponies with delight. 
Lyra wanted to scream. She wanted to bolt out of the room and sprint down the hall. She wanted to find Bon Bon, wrap herself up in her hooves, and pretend it was all a bad dream. She wanted to grab her and flee the city with her, get as far away from this creature as possible. But all she could do was stand there in horror as the creature’s horn flashed green, and then the world went dark. 
	
> Making Berry Punch Mad
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Berry Punch groaned. It was too early to wake up, she decided. She reached out with her hoof to stroke her mare’s silky blue mane.  Minuette would, of course, already be awake, but she wouldn’t get out of their bed until Berry was up. She would still be right next to her, watching her sleep or whatever it was she did before Berry woke. 
Berry’s hoof reached out to where she guessed Minuette’s neck would be and tried to pull her into a kiss. Her hoof caught nothing but air. She groaned again in annoyance and reached further, wondering why her wife was teasing her so early in the morning. When her hoof felt nothing but bed sheets a second time, she sighed.
“That’s not funny, Collie,” Berry said as she laid on her back with her eyes closed. “You know I need you in the morning.” 
Berry waited with a smirk on her face to hear Minuette protest Berry using her nickname, followed quickly by a kiss and a playful shove, but none of those came. Confused, she opened one eye. “Minuette?”
The bed was a mess. The sheets were twisted and clumped around her and the pillows tossed about. Berry scratched the back of her head and sat up. She didn’t remember being that rough with Minuette last night. Usually, even if she was wasted, she still remembered a passionate night wit her wife, but she was coming up blank now. In fact, she didn’t even remember Minuette being in bed with her.
Berry blinked slowly and the last of the sleepiness left her mind. She didn’t remember a night of passion because there hadn’t been one. She didn’t remember Minuette sleeping next to her because she hadn’t been there. She had been forced to stay with that…Cadenza on royal wedding business.
“Ugh, I need a drink,” Berry said as she dragged herself out of bed. Her back hoof got caught up in the sheets and she tripped, spilling onto the floor. Apparently her body wasn’t comfortable, or happy, without Minuette next to her all night if the bed was any indication. 
“That’s it. She owes me big. Whatever I want. All night, and she’s wearing the bridle,” the Earth pony grumbled as she untangled herself. 
Berry freed herself and looked at the bed. Minuette would no doubt tell her to clean it up, but she wasn’t here right now. Besides, they were staying in Canterlot. No doubt this hotel had cleaning staff that could make the bed faster and better than Berry could ever dream of. She walked into the bathroom and looked at her reflection. She had a few extra sleep wrinkles and her mane was bordering on messy, but otherwise she looked presentable enough. She rubbed her eyes and ran her hooves through her mane twice, returning it to its normal curly state, and then smiled at herself. That looked better.
“Pinchy?” she called as she exited the bathroom. “Are you awake yet?”
“Yes, Mommy,” came the little filly’s voice. Moments later Berry felt the comforting nudge of her daughter nuzzling her leg. She patted her little girl on the head and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. 
“Good morning, sweetie,” she said.
“Mom’s not back yet,” Pinchy said, her face drooping a bit. “Where is she?”
With a terrible pony. “She had to stay at the castle over night,” Berry said, forcing a smile to her face for the sake of her daughter. “But don’t you worry. We’ll see her today at the wedding. And she is going to look drop dead gorgeous.”
“Really?” Pinchy said, her eyes lighting up like two little candles. “Is she going to look like a princess? Is that why she had to stay at the castle last night?”
“Oh, she’ll look even better than a princess,” Berry said. Minuette could have her mane shaved off, her tail ripped, patches missing from her fur, and covered in mud and she would still look better than Cadenza could ever hope to. Actually, that last idea didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Berry made a mental note to add the mud to the growing list of things Minuette was going to have to do in order to apologize. 
“Yay!” Pinchy said, bouncing up and down. “Can we go now? Pretty please?” She looked up and blinked twice, a tactic she had learned from Minuette. 
“In a bit, sweetie,” Berry said, unable to resist her daughter’s charm. “We need to get breakfast first. Go straighten your mane and then we’ll go down to the lobby to get some food.” 
Pinchy zipped into the bathroom and Berry heard the sound of running water as the filly washed her face. She came out moments later, her mane damp and her face soaked. Berry smiled and grabbed a towel to dry her off. Pinchy giggled as her face was dried and then she darted down the hall. Berry followed her, stopping at the table in the small living room. A pair of earrings was sitting on the table. She had promised Minuette she would wear them for the wedding. She put them in, wincing slightly as they pinched her ears. 
“Are we ready?” Berry asked as she met Pinchy at the door. 
“Uh huh,” Pinchy said and she opened the door, then disappeared into the hotel hallway. 
“Hold on there,” Berry said, grabbing her daughter by the tail. “We need to see if Bon Bon’s awake.” Berry walked up to the room Bon Bon was staying in and knocked. “Hey Bon Bon, you awake?” she asked. There was no answer. It was possible she was still asleep, but Berry doubted that. More likely she had already left for the day, eager to see Lyra again. 
“Hey, sleepyhead. Pinchy and I are going downstairs to get some breakfast if you want to join us,” she said and then turned to follow her daughter.
The two ponies walked into the dinning room and looked around. There were quite a few ponies about, munching on everything from cereal to a variety of fancy Canterlot dishes.  Berry already knew that Pinchy would go straight for the sweetest cereal she could find, especially since Minuette wasn’t around to stop her, and Berry hoped there’d be something in this place that was to her liking as well. Fancy food didn’t really suit her tastes. 
“There you two are,” came a familiar voice. Berry looked over to see a rather regal-looking pony waving at her and Pinchy. She had a silky minty green dress on and a sun hat to match. A red jewel was on the front of the wide hat and a long feather was attached to it. Her mane was done up in curls that blended her bubblegum pink and dark blue colors beautifully. She looked like a typical Canterlot pony, and it took Berry a moment to realize she was looking at Bon Bon, dressed up for the wedding. “I’ve been waiting forever. I was getting ready to eat without you.”
“Sorry about that,” Berry said, walking over to the table that Bon Bon was sitting at. 
“Mommy, I’m gonna go get some cereal, okay?” Pinchy said and then she was off like a shot.
“Okay, but don’t pour sugar all over it! Mom will kill me if you do!” Berry called after her, knowing full well that her words had fallen on deaf ears.  She sat down next to Bon Bon and let out a weary sigh.
“You look nice,” Berry said as she looked over Bon Bon’s outfit. She noticed that the color of the dress matched Lyra’s coat perfectly. 
“Thanks,” Bon Bon said. She brushed her curly mane with her hoof. “Took me forever to get my mane curled like this. Lyra usually helps me do it. She really likes it when I wear it like this.”
Berry touched the earrings on her ears. “Yeah, I know that feeling.”
“Those are really pretty,” Bon Bon said, leaning in closer to look at the jewelry. They took the shape of a small green leaf with three red berries on each leaf. “Did Minuette get those for you?” 
“Yeah,” Berry said. She was suddenly aware of how underdressed she was going to be for going to a royal wedding. She hoped Minuette wouldn’t be embarrassed. Bon Bon looked great, and all Berry had done was put on a pair of earrings that Minuette had given her on their first date. 
Bon Bon saw the frown on Berry’s face. “Rough night then?” she asked in a hushed voice.
Berry sighed. “Yeah. I’m still upset about last night apparently.” 
“I know that feeling. These Canterlot beds seem awfully big when you sleep in them alone.” Bon Bon looked down at the table and her eyes glazed over for a moment. 
“But don’t worry about it,” Berry said, forcing a smile for Bon Bon and herself. “Today we get them back, and I don’t know about you, but Minuette is going to be very busy tonight.”
“What’s Mom going to be busy with?” Pinchy asked as she returned to the table. She placed a huge bowl of cereal on the table, complete with a mini tower of sugar right in the middle of it. 
“Grown up stuff, sweetie,” Berry said. She looked at the sugar and then gave her daughter a look, trying her best to imitate that expression that Minuette did so well. It didn’t work. Pinchy just looked at her, smiled, and then dug into her cereal with reckless abandon. In a moment, her face was covered with milk, sugar, and cereal flakes. 
“Shall we get something to eat?” Bon Bon asked.
“Sounds good. Do you think they serve wine this early?”
“Berry Punch, I’m surprised at you!” Bon Bon said. Her face was stern and her eyes narrowed slightly. For a moment, Berry was afraid she was about to hear another lecture about drinking her life away, and she was prepared to defend herself. Having a glass or two of wine with breakfast was perfectly acceptable. But then Bon Bon smiled. “This is Canterlot. Of course they have wine. The bar’s that way.”
Berry smiled and trotted over to the bar. She ordered a glass of wine and drank it in one gulp, much to the server’s surprise. “Ah. Another, please,” she said as the soothing liquid flooded through her veins, banishing some of the dark thoughts that had been haunting her since last night.  She took the second glass back to the table and told Pinchy, who was still joyously munching away on her sugar, to watch her drink and then went over to order some real food. She returned with two pastries and a stack of pancakes drenched in syrup. Pinchy wasn’t the only one who was going to enjoy herself without Minuette around to give the look. 
Berry was stuffing another bite of pancakes into her mouth when Bon Bon returned with her own breakfast. Berry opened her mouth to stay something, but all that came out was a muffled grunt.
“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that,” Bon Bon said with a smile as she sat down.
Berry swallowed and licked the syrup from her lips, hoping she had got to it before it started to make her fur sticky. “I said welcome back.” 
“Thanks,” Bon Bon said as she started peeling an orange. She looked at Berry’s plate and raised an eyebrow. “You going to be able to eat all of that?”
Berry grinned and took a sip of her wine, then bit into one of her pastries. “One of the few plus sides to Minuette not being here is that she doesn’t get to tell me what this stuff is going to do to my teeth. Isn’t that right, Pinchy?”
The filly looked up from her now-empty bowl and smiled as only a child could. “Yep. We are going to be in so much trouble when Mom finds out.” 
Berry winked and held her hoof to her mouth. “I won’t tell her if you won’t.”
“Deal,” Pinchy said. 
The three ponies laughed and then finished their breakfast in peace. They left their plates at the table and then made their way outside and began heading toward the castle.
The city was much livelier today than it had been last night. Berry noticed that there were still plenty of guards around, just as there had been when she and Minuette had walked this way last evening, but there were also plenty of normal ponies too. All of them were dressed in fancy attire, and most carried themselves with an air of importance that Berry highly doubted they deserved. 
Still, being surrounded by so many high-class ponies was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. She felt naked, and not in the fun sort of way. She looked at Bon Bon and her outfit. It screamed sophistication and, unlike the other ponies walking about, it actually worked on her because she wasn’t carrying herself with an air of arrogance. 
Her hoof went to one of the earrings she was wearing. She was so plain in comparison.
Celestia, what am I doing? she thought. This is a royal wedding! Look at me. I didn’t even think to wear a dress. Minuette’s going to be so embarrassed. All these fancy ponies, and she’s going to be seen with me.
“Mommy?” Pinchy asked, tugging at Berry’s tail.
Berry looked down at her daughter and her blood ran cold. I didn’t even get Pinchy a dress! What was I thinking? I don’t belong here. Minuette should have just left a pony like me back in Ponyville. 
“Mommy!” Pinchy said again, tugging harder on Berry’s tail and snapping her out of her downward spiral. 
“What is it?” Berry asked. 
“You’re doing that thing again,” her daughter said with a disapproving look.
“I…I am not!” Berry protested, lowering her ears and looking away.
“Are too.”
“Doing what?” Bon Bon asked. Berry was about to tell her not to worry about it, but Pinchy interrupted.
“She’s thinking she doesn’t dessert Mom again,” Pinchy said, her face turning into a scowl as she glared at her mother. 
Bon Bon raised an eyebrow and looked at Berry.
“It’s ‘deserve,’ sweetie,” Berry said as she met Bon Bon’s eyes with a blush.
“Yeah, that,” Pinchy said, stomping her hoof. ““She does it a lot. She gets this look in her eyes and her ears start twitching. Then she gets really stiff and starts walking funny.”
“Does she now?” Bon Bon asked, leaning down to talk to Pinchy face to face. “Why do you think she does that?”
“Because she’s silly,” Pinchy said. “I hear her talk to herself in the bathroom sometimes. She thinks that Mom’s going to leave her because she’s no good.” Berry blushed so hard that her fur started to itch. “Even though Mom has told me, and her, that that will never happen.” 
Berry winced at her daughter’s words and smiled meekly at Bon Bon. “Well, um…you know how it is…” she laughed weakly.
Bon Bon looked down at Pinchy again and leaned in close to her ear, then whispered loud enough for Berry to hear. “Well, just between you and me, Pinchy, I think you’re right. Your Mommy is being very silly, but don’t tell her I said that. She’ll get mad.”
“Oh ha ha,” Berry said with a roll of her eyes as her two companions giggled. “Would you two hurry up? We’re going to be late for the wedding, and then Mom will be really upset.”
Pinchy trotted forward with a smile on her face and started whistling a tune as she skipped ahead. Bon Bon walked next to Berry and started humming a tune of her own. Berry leaned in to whisper to her.
“Thanks for that,” she said.
“Your daughter’s right though,” Bon Bon said. 
“I know,” Berry said, her ears drooping a little. “It’s just—”
“You’re doing it again,” Bon Bon said. “That’s not healthy. Don’t make me sic Pinchy on you.”
Berry smiled. “That’s not fair. You know a child, especially my child, has no tact.” 
“All’s fair in love and war,” Bon Bon said with a wink.
Berry blushed again, but this time it was a good feeling. So what if she didn’t dress as nice as all these other ponies? Minuette loved her for her. In fact, she’d probably die laughing if Berry tried to act like one of these Canterlot snobs. If Minuette wanted to marry one of them, she could have easily done so, but she hadn’t. She had chosen Berry Punch out of all the other ponies in Equestria.
It was amazing, and a little embarrassing, how often she needed to be reminded of that, whther by her daughter or Minuette herself. She vowed to do better for both their sakes and then put the matter out of her mind.
Canterlot Castle was looming ever closer, and as the trio neared it the crowd of ponies began to thicken. It wasn’t long before Berry, Bon Bon, and Pinchy found themselves at a standstill just outside of castle. It seemed that every pony in the city was trying to get inside. Berry briefly wondered how they were supposed to get in themselves, but she decided she’d worry about that when they actually made it to the front of the line. 
Berry felt a hoof poke her flank and for a moment she thought some pony was trying to get fresh with her. She turned around, all set to either smack them or wink at them depending on who they were, when she saw that it was Pinchy. The young filly was still trying to poke her with her hoof, but she was straining her neck to try and see through the legs of the ponies around her.
“Is something wrong, Pinchy?” Berry asked as she gently stopped her daughter from poking the air.
“Mommy, I thought you said Mom was going to look like a princess,” Pinchy said, still not looking toward Berry.
“I said she’ll look better than a princess,” Berry replied. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to see her soon.”
That remark did make Pinchy finally look her mother in the eye. “But that’s just it. I saw her over there! And she wasn’t dressed as a princess at all!” She gestured with her hoof.
“What are you talking about?” Berry asked. She craned her neck and stood on the tips of her hooves to try and see over the surrounding ponies. She got several looks, but she ignored them. “Where did you see her?”
“Over there!” Pinchy pointed again.
Berry hopped once. At first she saw nothing, but as she was coming down she spied a flash of blue and white. She hopped again, higher this time. Sure enough, she saw a pony that looked an awful lot like Minuette, but she wasn’t dressed like she was going to be a bridesmaid. And she was heading away from the castle. 
“Pinchy, stay with Bon Bon, okay,” Berry said as she started to force her way through the crowd. What was Minuette thinking? The wedding was due to start in less than an hour. How could she be out roaming the streets at a time like this?
“Berry, where are you going?” Bon Bon asked. “We’re going to be late.”
“I just need to check on something,” Berry said as she politely tried to move past a stallion, but when that didn’t work she not-so-politely pushed him aside. “I’ll be right back. Watch after Pinchy for me, okay?”
“Nuh uh,” Pinchy said, and Berry felt the familiar tug on her tail as her daughter pulled it. “I’m coming with you. I want to see Mom too!”
Berry surpressed a sigh. She didn’t have time to argue, not if that really was Minuette—and it certainly looked like her. She leaned down and Pinchy instantly jumped on her back. She could move faster through the crowd if she didn’t have to worry about her daughter getting lost.
“We’ll be right back,” Berry said over her shoulder. “Save our seats, okay?”
Berry didn’t wait for Bon Bon’s reply. She began forcing her way through the crowd, trying to keep an eye on the blue mane that she kept catching glimpses of. At first she tried being polite, but ponies weren’t getting out of her way fast enough, so she started saying that she had a sick filly coming through. Pinchy caught on instantly and pretended to have a stomachache, groaning and complaining loudly. Berry couldn’t have been more proud of her, but that trick still wasn’t making ponies move out of the way fast enough. Apparently managing to get a seat at a royal wedding was more important than a sick child. Just another reason why Berry knew she’d never fit in this city or this culture. 
Fed up, the Earth pony decided to use the very thing that made her an Earth pony. Berry simply began pushing ponies aside with ease. She got several more looks, a couple of “How rude” whispers, and countless “Hey! Watch it!” shouts, but she was moving through the crowd with relative ease now. 
Finally, she and Pinchy came to the end of the crowd. Her daughter hopped down from her back and quickly looked around, then pointed to the right. “Look! There she goes!”
Berry looked and caught a glimpse of Minuette’s tail disappearing around a corner down the street. “Minuette!” she called, and then went after her.  She made sure to only move at a fast walk, both so she didn’t leave Pinchy behind and because she didn’t want to cause any more of a scene, but her sense of dread was growing. What was that Unicorn thinking? 
Berry rounded the corner and stopped, looking for her wife. She saw her heading toward the very bar Berry and Bon Bon had visited last night. “Minuette!” she called again. “Minuette, stop!”
“Mom!” Pinchy shouted as she rounded the corner too. 
Minuette stopped just before going in to Luna’s Rest and looked around. She made eye contact with Berry and Berry waved at her, but the Unicorn only cocked her head to the side and then went inside the bar.
“Collie!” Berry shouted with a mix of despair and anger. She didn’t care if Minuette got embarrassed by the use of her nickname right now. Something wasn’t right. She broke into a run and closed the distance to the bar.
“Should I wait outside?” Pinchy asked as she caught up to Berry, and Berry froze. Pinchy was underage. She shouldn’t be walking into a bar. Plus, depending on what Minuette was about to say, things could very well get out of hoof quickly and Berry didn’t want her to see that. But she couldn’t just leave her daughter standing alone outside of a bar. What type of mother would do that?
Berry looked around and spied a guard close by. She briskly walked over to him and started speaking before he had a chance to open his mouth.
“My wife just walked into that bar over there,” Berry said, tilting her head toward the place. “I need to run in and get her real quick. Keep an eye on my daughter.” The guard raised an eyebrow and Berry rolled her eyes. She didn’t have time for this. “Please?”
“It’s true,” Pinchy said, putting on her best pouting face. “Mom is supposed to be in the wedding. She’s supposed to be look better than a princess, but she ran into that place. Please, I don’t want to miss her looking better than a princess.”
The guard sighed. “Okay. But make it quick. I’m not a foalsitter.”
“Thanks,” Berry said, then instantly turned and ran back to the bar and through the entrance. 
The bar was much like it had been last night, and that struck Berry as beyond odd. It was dead quiet inside and the silence stunned her so much that she froze halfway through the door. She looked around the small tavern for a moment and saw that everypony was looking directly at her as if she was carrying a plague. She took a quick breath and finished walking through the door.
“What?” she asked at the first group of ponies that she made eye contact with. “You’re not my type, so stop dreaming and go back to your drinks.” The ponies blinked once—all in creepy unison, she noticed—and then slowly turned back to their drinks and conversations. Or at least, that’s what they pretended to do. Berry noticed that none of them were actually drinking anything and no pony was speaking. 
Whatever, she thought as she walked up to Minuette, who was sitting at the bar and trying hard not to look at her. Just one more reason to get out of here quick and back to Pinchy.
Berry was still trying to decide whether to act angry or happy about seeing Minuette when she slid into the seat next to her. At the last second, she decided that she was too happy to see her again to be angry.
“Hey, Collie,” she whispered, scooting a little closer so no pony else would hear. “What was that all about?”
Minuette blinked several times but didn’t look at Berry. “What are you talking about?”
Okay, that’s weird. Minuette hadn’t even so much as twitched when Berry had called her ‘Collie.’ Usually she at least blushed.  
“Back there on the street,” Berry said, pointing toward the door and moving back from Minuette slightly. “Pinchy and I were calling you. Didn’t you hear us?”
“Who?” Minuette asked. She shot the bartender a look, but still refused to turn to Berry.
“Pinchy,” Berry said, letting more anger flood into her voice than she had meant to. Whatever game Minuette was playing, it was quickly losing its charm. “My daughter. Our daughter.”
Minuette’s ear twitched and she finally turned to look at Berry. “Oh. Her.”
Berry’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Yes, her.” She stopped for a moment as her frustration began to build. “Collie, what’s wrong with you?”
Again, Minuette showed no response. “Nothing’s wrong with me,” she said. “I…just have a lot on my mind.”
“About the wedding?” Berry asked. 
“How do you know about that?” Minuette snapped, her eyes going wide.
“Um…because it’s all you’ve been talking about since you were asked to be in it?” Berry said, more of her frustration slipping into her voice. “All of Equestria knows about this wedding.”
“Would you like a drink?” the bartender interrupted suddenly. 
Berry blinked in surprise. Couldn’t this fool see that she was having a serious conversation? “Sure,” she said. “Same thing as last night.” She couldn’t afford to even get tipsy right now, not with Pinchy waiting outside.
The bartender looked at her and blinked twice, then looked at Minuette for a long moment. Finally, he walked away and came back a moment later with a mug. Berry slipped her hoof through its handle, but she didn’t take a drink from it. 
“You going to drink that?” Minuette asked, nodding toward Berry’s mug. 
“In a minute,” Berry replied. “Look, we really need to get going. The wedding’s starting soon.”
“I know,” Minuette said, still looking between Berry and her mug.
“So why are you sitting in a bar?” Berry demanded, slamming the mug on the counter. “Pinchy really wants to see you in your dress, and I have to admit that I’ve been looking forward to that too.”
“I’m where I’m supposed to be,” Minuette said calmly.
“You’re what?” Berry demanded. “No you’re not! You’re supposed to be in the wedding. You’re supposed to be in a beautiful dress. You’re supposed to be up on stage outshining that brat of a Princess at her own wedding. Not sitting in some dark bar like…like me.”
“Okay, look,” Minuette said. “I’ve tried to be patient with you, but I think I’ve done enough. I don’t know who you are, or who this Pinchy is. I think you have the wrong pony. Now, I’ll pay for your drink, but I think you should go.”
Berry Punch sat perfectly still for an eternity. Every sound around her faded except for those few sentences. Their words echoed over and over in her mind, being driven into her brain like a nail being struck by a hammer. Her fur tingled all over, and she suddenly felt colder than she could ever remember being. At the same time, she felt sweat begin to trickle down her forehead and gather in her joints. Color faded from her vision as she continued to stare at the blue Unicorn sitting next to her, and when the blue had faded to nearly grey, her vision began to blur. She vaguely felt a tear fall from her eye. 
Berry Punch’s second worst fear had just come true right before her very eyes. Minuette wanted nothing more to do with her.
“Fine,” Berry whispered. She felt her hooves begin to shake. “Fine. I’ll get out of your life, but you better explain this to Pinchy. And you better do a damn good job of it, or so help me, there will be nowhere in Equestria that you can hide, Collie.” She spat the former nickname from her mouth, then raised her mug to her lips. The scent slipped into her nose and part of her brain told her that it didn’t smell at all like cider, but she didn’t care. She was going to drink the whole thing in one gulp and then throw the glass at Minuette’s face.
The liquid was just about to touch her mouth when the entire area shook. There was a loud explosion and Berry nearly fell out of her seat.
“What in Celestia’s name was that?” she shouted, and then panic took over. “Pinchy? PINCHY!” No. She couldn’t lose Minuette and her daughter. Not all at once. 
Berry turned in her seat and was about to dash out the door when it suddenly flew open.
“Mommy!” Pinchy came dashing through the entrance in a blind panic. Berry jumped down from the bar and scooped her daughter up in her hooves, pulling her close and stroking her mane. Nothing else mattered at that moment, not even Minuette’s betrayal. 
“I’m here, sweetie,” Berry whispered, cradling her daughter. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
“Mommy, Canterlot is being attacked!” Pinchy said, trying to burying herself further into Berry’s embrace. 
“Attacked?” Berry asked. “Attacked by who?” Who, or what, in their right mind would try to attack Canterlot, home of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?
“I…I don’t know. The guard told me to run when that pink bubble in the sky broke. He said Canterlot was under attack. And then green fire started falling from the sky, and these scary looking bug ponies started coming out of the fire and attacking ponies and covering them in this icky green slime and...” Pinchy ran out of breath then and she just stayed in Berry’s embrace, shuddering slightly.
“It’s starting,” a voice said from behind Berry. She turned around to look at Minuette, ready to demand answers and what that was supposed to me, but she froze.
It was no longer Minuette sitting at the bar. She had been replaced by a pitch-black pony, or at least it looked like a pony in shape. But it also had insect wings and its eyes lacked pupils of any kind. Its legs were full of holes and a single horn was emerging from its nearly bald forehead. 
“What the…?” Berry whispered.
“Your time is at an end, pony,” the strange creature said. “Our Queen has signal the attack. Your empire will fall. All of you shall become food for our beloved Queen. She shall drain the love from you until you are nothing but withered husks, good for nothing more than mindless slaves. From this day onward, Equestria belongs to the Changelings.” 
Well that explains a lot, Berry thought as she looked around the bar. None of the other ponies were acting as shocked as she was. That wasn’t a good sign. She took a deep breath and lowered Pinchy onto the floor.
“Pinchy, I need you to do something very important for Mommy, okay?” 
“Mommy, that’s one of the ponies,” Pinchy whispered.
“I know, which is why I need you to do something. Can I count on you?”
“Uh huh,” Pinchy said, still not taking her eyes off of the Changeling. 
“I need you to go lock yourself in the bathroom, and not open the door until I come for you, okay? And—”
“And don’t unlock it unless you say the secret password,” Pinchy finished.
“That’s my girl.” Berry turned and addressed all the ponies staring at her and her daughter. “The first one of you that even tries to touch her dies.”
To every other pony’s credit, none of them so much as raised a hoof as she and her daughter walked through the middle of the bar. Berry stopped once they reached the hallway and allowed Pinchy to go ahead while she blocked the way with her body. She didn’t move or say a word until she heard the sound of the door locking. 
“All right, this can happen one of two ways,” Berry said as she lowered her head and narrowed her eyes. “Option one. You tell me what you’ve done with my wife—and you better pray that she is still alive—and me and my daughter walk out of here without any trouble. Option two, and I really hope you choose this one, is that I make you tell me as I feed you your teeth.”
“Give it up, pony,” the Changeling said. “Your kind is doomed.”
Berry looked around the room, making eye contact with each pony there. None of them were moving, but they were all smiling at her. “So I’m guessing you’re all the same as this freak then?” she asked. 
“Like I said,” the Changeling repeated as the other ponies began to morph. “Your kind is doomed.”
Berry Punch rolled her neck to one side and then the other, popping it as she did. “So you’re going with the second option then? Good. I am beyond pissed right now. This is going to be damn cathartic.”  
	
> Betraying Bon Bon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Bon Bon watched Berry Punch start making her way back through the crowd. She saw Pinchy hop up on her mom’s back and she was about to call out for them to wait, but they quickly melted into the crowd.
“Well that’s just great,” Bon Bon mumbled as she turned back to face the castle. “Save their seats? How am I supposed to do that? This place is going to be packed. Where are they running off to anyway?” Bon Bon sighed and closed her eyes. There was nothing to worry about, she told herself. She and Berry were guests of the bridesmaids. Surely they would have their own special spots reserved. 
But the wedding was starting soon, and it looked like it was going to take all of the remaining time just to reach the castle. And if the guards locked the doors once the wedding started, then there would be nothing Bon Bon could do. She looked over her shoulder again, hoping to see the two ponies forcing their way back to her, but she had no such luck.
“Bon Bon?” a voice called. “Bons, is that you?”
Bon Bon cocked her head to one side. She recognized that voice, but she couldn’t place it. She stood up on the tips of her hooves, hoping to see whoever was calling to her. It wasn’t Lyra, of that she was certain. Lyra never called her Bons.
“Bon Bon, over here!” the voice called again. Bon Bon looked ahead and saw a white hoof waving at her over the tops of all the other ponies. “Excuse me, coming through, make way. Hey! Chill out, dude. I said excuse me. Now move it.” 
Bon Bon sighed and rolled her eyes as she recognized the voice that was making its way to her. Only one pony could talk like that in Canterlot and not realize what she was doing.
“S’up.” A white Unicorn with a blue mane and a pair of purple sunglasses squeezed her way in between two ponies standing in front of Bon Bon and then turned to one of them and said, “Oops, sorry about your coat. I’m sure that will wash right out.” The stallion just turned his nose up at her in a huff.
“Hello, Vinyl,” Bon Bon said. She didn’t really consider Vinyl Scratch a friend, but they weren’t on unfriendly terms either. They only knew each other because Lyra and Octavia were close friends, what with their shared love of music. Bon Bon hated to admit it, but she was actually kind of jealous of Octavia. The cellist was always able to talk to Lyra about things that Bon Bon just didn’t understand. 
“Ugh, these Canterlot ponies,” Vinyl said, turning back to face Bon Bon. “Am I right? So uptight. Glad Octy’s not like them.”
She’s not? Bon Bon thought. Octavia certainly seemed very Canterlot to her. Uptight, standoffish, and very prim and proper. But then again, she was dating Vinyl, so she couldn’t be that bad. There was no way Vinyl would stick around if she were. 
“Um, yeah,” Bon Bon said. “So what are you doing here?” Vinyl certainly wasn’t dressed for a royal wedding. But then, Berry wasn’t either, and she hadn’t given it a second thought. Bon Bon looked down at her dress and then up and her hat and suddenly felt a little silly. 
“Nice hat,” Vinyl said. “Keeps the sun off of you, that’s for sure. So what are you doing here?” 
Bon Bon sighed again. She had literally just asked Vinyl that same question and the mare had completely ignored it. Celestia bless Octavia if this was what she put up with.
“I’m just trying to get inside. The wedding’s going to start soon and I don’t want to miss Lyra.”
“Pssh, so why are you standing out here with all these snobs?” Vinyl asked. Bon Bon winced as several ponies glared at the Unicorn, but Vinyl ignored them. “Come on, I can get you in.”
“Um, Vinyl, I don’t think—whoa!”
Vinyl wrapped her hoof around Bon Bon’s leg and began to drag her through the crowd. She kept bumping her way through, and Bon Bon was forced to offer quick apologetic looks to every pony she passed, but Vinyl’s tactic worked. In a matter of moments, the two of them were standing at the front of the castle.
“What’s up?” Vinyl said to the guard. She held out her hoof and Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. Surely Vinyl didn’t expect—
“What’s up, D.J. Pon-three!” the guard said as he bumped his hoof against Vinyl’s. “She with you?” He nodded toward Bon Bon and the mare did her best to keep her mouth from falling open. How in Equestria did a royal guard know Vinyl? 
“Yeah,” Vinyl said. “Er, I mean, no. She’s not with me with me. She’s just with me. I mean, she’s not my date or anything. Uh, not that I don’t think you’re great, Bon Bon. I just mean—”
“Calm down,” Bon Bon said with a smile. “I know what you mean, and so does he.” She turned to the guard. “My name is Bon Bon. I’m…a close friend of one of the bridesmaids.”
“Which one? Rarity, Applejack?” the guard asked, looking down at a scroll and searching for her name. 
“Um…no,” Bon Bon said. “Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings.”
“Hm…” The guard continued to look over the guest list, then he looked up at Bon Bon suspiciously. “There’s no pony with that name in the wedding.”
“There must be some mistake,” Bon Bon said, stepping forward to look at the list herself before she realized what she was doing. “Lyra is supposed to be one of the bridesmaids, along with Minuette and Twinkleshine.”
The guard looked Bon Bon up and down several times, and then his gazed shifted to Vinyl. “You promise you’ll keep an eye on her?” he asked as his gaze returned to Bon Bon, his brown eyes narrowing even more.
“Yeah, no problem,” Vinyl said, wrapping her front leg around Bon Bon’s neck and gently shook her. “I’ll be her chaperone. The big city life just confuses her sometimes.”
“Okay.” The guard stepped aside and let Vinyl and Bon Bon through, much to the annoyance of many ponies behind them. Vinyl kept her hoof around Bon Bon’s neck for a few more steps, then she pulled away and ran her hoof across her forehead.
“Whew, that was close,” she said. “I wasn’t sure he was going to let you in.”
“How did you—?” Bon Bon started, but Vinyl just kept talking.
“I mean, security’s been pretty tight already. They made me take my entire rig apart so they could inspect it. And when you started making a scene about Lyra at the gate.”
“I was not making a scene!” Bon Bon protested. This mare was infuriating. Bon Bon was gaining a newfound respect for Octavia with every passing second.  “Lyra is supposed to be in the wedding. All three of those ponies are. It’s not my fault if that stupid guard has the wrong guest list.”
“Uh, Bon Bon? I don’t think shouting, ‘stupid guard’ in the middle of the palace is a good idea…”
Bon Bon blushed and her ears fell. Vinyl was right. She didn’t want to get kicked out of the palace over a simple mistake on the guest list. Lyra would never forgive her if she missed her big moment.
Still, she hoped Berry and Pinchy didn’t have trouble getting in. That would certainly cause a scene, and an ugly one too. 
“I just don’t understand why Lyra wasn’t on the list,” Bon Bon said as the two began walking through the main hall of the castle. There were dozens of ponies inside, and they were all heading toward the wedding room. “I mean, it’s all she’s been talking about for the past few days. She even spent the night at the castle to get ready for today. How could Princess Cadenza forget to put her name on the list?”
“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Vinyl pointed straight ahead. “Lyra’s right there.”
Bon Bon looked where Vinyl was pointing and her heart soared. There was Lyra! The mint green Unicorn was standing near the doors to the wedding room, looking around and gently swishing her beautiful tail back and forth. Bon Bon was so excited to see her again that it took her a moment to realize that something was very wrong. Lyra wasn’t in her dress. Her mane wasn’t styled the way it was supposed to be, she didn’t have the flowers in her hair, and she wasn’t wearing any jewelry. What in Celestia’s name was she doing? Didn’t she know that the wedding was about to start? 
“Lyra!” Bon Bon shouted as she walked toward the Unicorn. The silly filly had probably lost track of time, again, and didn’t realize that everypony else was most likely already in their outfits. “Lyra, what are you doing?”
Lyra turned to Bon Bon and looked at her with an odd look, then blinked once. “Excuse me?” she said.
“The wedding is going to start any minute now,” Bon Bon said. She knew Lyra was a bit…well, Lyra sometimes, but this was ridiculous even for her. “Why aren’t you in your dress?”
“Dress?” Lyra asked, cocking her head to one side. “I don’t—”
“Hey…Lyra,” Vinyl said as she walked up next to Bon Bon. Bon Bon noticed that Vinyl seemed to have a hard time saying the Unicorn’s name. “I found Bon Bon here outside. She was trying to get in to find you.”
“Bon Bon?” Lyra asked as her eyes shifted back to Bon Bon. 
“Yes,” Bon Bon said, annoyance seeping into her voice. Was Lyra trying to be funny or something? “Don’t tell me that witch cast a spell on you to make you forget about your marefriend.”
Lyra’s ears perked up at that and a nervous smile quickly came to her lips. “What? No. No, of course not. How could I every forget about my girl?” She reached out with her hoof and gave Bon Bon a quick hug. It was stiff, as though she didn’t know what she was doing, but as soon as Bon Bon hugged her back everything was fine. Lyra was probably just nervous about the wedding. 
Bon Bon pulled out of the hug and gazed into the sunglow eyes of her mare. “Now come on,” she said. “I bet if we hurry, we can still get you into your dress and ready for the wedding.”
Vinyl slammed her hoof against her forehead. “The wedding’s about to start!” she said. “Oh pony feathers! I need to go set up! Catch you later, Bon Bon.” She nodded toward Lyra. “Lyra,” she said flatly, and then she took off running. 
“Set up?” Bon Bon asked, and then a horrible thought crossed her mind. “Oh, please tell me she’s not providing the music for the wedding. I don’t think I can listen to dubstep for that long.” 
“Dubstep?” Lyra asked. “Is that some sort of dance?”
“Are you feeling okay?” Bon Bon asked. She placed her hoof on Lyra’s forehead to check for a fever. Lyra just stood there and stared at her, blinking slowly. “Did you hit your head or something?”
“Uh…no,” Lyra said, pulling away from Bon Bon’s hoof and brushing the back of her neck. “I’m…just a little overwhelmed, that’s all.”
“Well, be overwhelmed later,” Bon Bon said, grabbing Lyra’s mane with her teeth and starting to pull her down the hall. “You need to hurry up and get changed.” She had no idea where the changing room was, or where Lyra was even supposed to be, but she had to get her moving. Judging by the way ponies were filing through the doors, the wedding was due to start any minute.
And there was still no sign of Berry or Pinchy.
“Um…why am I changing again?” Lyra asked as she allowed herself to be dragged away.
Bon Bon stopped dead at the question and spit Lyra’s mane out of her mouth. “Okay, Lyra, joke’s over.”
“What joke?”
Bon Bon turned around and looked at the mare. Lyra just looked back at her, blinking once but otherwise not moving. She didn’t smile, she didn’t wink, she didn’t tilt her head to the side and blow her mane out of her eyes like she always did when she was trying to be flirty. She just stood and looked at Bon Bon as ponies made their way into the room.
“You are in the wedding,” Bon Bon said carefully. She was growing concerned. Lyra wasn’t acting like herself at all. She looked like Lyra, but her personality was missing. The wacky, eccentric, and frankly annoying pony wasn’t there.  Bon Bon knew Lyra shut down when something was bothering her, but she had never seen it this bad before. What had Princess Cadenza said to her last night? 
“Um, about the wedding…” Lyra said, kicking the marble floor with her hoof. “I’m…I’m not in it.”
“What?” Bon Bon asked as she stepped closer. “But…you were looking forward to this for months!”
Lyra shrugged and looked at the floor. “Well, things changed…”
Bon Bon had a horrid thought rush through her mind. “Lyra, it wasn’t because of…us?”
“Us?”
“Berry and I spent some time talking last night. We both agreed that the Princess didn’t seem to approve of our relationships.”
Lyra’s ears perked up and her eyes widened with surprise. “Yes! Yes, that’s what it was!” Bon Bon gave her a look, and the mare suddenly coughed. “I mean, yeah. I didn’t like the way she talked to you and Cherry last night, so…I sort of quit.” 
“Minuette too?” Bon Bon asked, her heart pounding in her chest. “And Twinkleshine?”
“Uh, yeah,” Lyra said. “We all quit last night.”
Bon Bon felt tears swelling in her eyes. She reached forward and wrapped her hooves around Lyra’s neck. She buried her muzzle in the Unicorn’s mane and felt the tears falling from her eyes. She felt weak for a moment as she held her marefriend, but she squeezed her tighter and the sadness was replaced with joy. This wedding had been all Lyra had been talking about for months, and she had given it up. She had passed on a dream of hers for Bon Bon. No wonder she seemed so off. This couldn’t have been an easy thing for her to do.
Bon Bon pulled out of the hug and wiped a few tears from her eyes. “Lyra, you didn’t need to do that for me,” she said.
Lyra blinked twice and a smile finally came to her lips. “Well, you’re worth it. You’re my mare, after all.”
Bon Bon felt more tears come to her eyes and color flood her face. “Thank you,” she whispered. “But…why didn’t you come back to the room last night then?”
Lyra scratched the back of her neck again and looked down at the floor. “Well, uh…I didn’t want you to get mad at me.” 
“The only thing I’m mad about is that I spent the night alone when I didn’t need to,” Bon Bon said. She pulled Lyra closer and kissed her on the lips. Lyra didn’t kiss her back though. Bon Bon thought that was odd, but she brushed it off as Lyra still being depressed about leaving the wedding.
“Um…sorry about that?” Lyra squeaked and Bon Bon smiled.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said in a quiet voice, trying to mimic the tone Berry was so good at using. “You can make it up to me tonight. Or better yet, how about right now?”
“Um…what?”
“There’s no reason to stick around here anymore,” Bon Bon said. She turned and gently flipped her tail across Lyra’s nose. “And I could use some help getting out of this dress…”
“But what about the wedding?” Lyra asked, looking over her shoulder. 
Bon Bon made a face. “What about it? She kicked you out of the wedding—”
“No, I quit,” Lyra corrected, her face darkening slightly.
“The point is, you’re not in it anymore,” Bon Bon said, slightly confused by her marefriend’s attitude. “And after the way she treated you, me, Berry and Minuette—”
“Who?” Lyra asked, and then she blinked quickly. “Oh, right. The other bridesmaids.” 
“I don’t see why we should stick around this place,” Bon Bon said with a wave of her hoof. “I say we go enjoy Canterlot. There aren’t going to be any crowds, not with the wedding happening. It could just be the two of us on a date, wherever we want to go. Or we could go back to the room…”
Lyra blinked her eyes twice and stared at Bon Bon for a moment. Bon Bon was sure that last suggestion would at least cause her to blush, but nothing happened. It was like Lyra didn’t understand what Bon Bon was saying. 
“Um…if it’s all the same with you, Bonnie, I’d still like to see the wedding,” Lyra said after a few moments.
Bonnie? “What for? After everything that’s happened, I would think you couldn’t stand to be in the same room as the Princess.”
“It’s not every day you get to see the Queen get married,” Lyra said, looking anxiously over her shoulder. The last of the ponies were slipping through the door, and the two guards were starting to give them impatient looks.
Bon Bon chuckled. “Easy there, Lyra. Princess Cadenza isn’t going to be a queen just because she gets married. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are still the rulers.”
“Princess Luna?” Lyra asked. “There are three Princesses?”
Bon Bon stared at her marefriend. There was something wrong with her. She was sure of it now.  She stepped forward a bit, closing the distance between them until their muzzles were almost touching. She continued to stare, gazing deeper into Lyra’s eyes, searching for some sort of clue as to what was wrong with her marefriend. 
“Lyra,” she said slowly, “are you sure you’re feeling okay…?”
Lyra’s breathing picked up and she took a small step back, but Bon Bon kept pressing forward. “Uh…yeah, o-of course,” she stammered. “W-Why wouldn’t I be?” She backed into a wall and tried to scrunch herself against it to get away from Bon Bon.
“Because you’re acting weird,” Bon Bon said, leaning in and forcing Lyra to sink lower to the floor. “Weirder than usua—mmph!”
Lyra leaned forward suddenly and pressed her lips against Bon Bon’s. Bon Bon recoiled at first. The kiss felt…wrong. Plus, she could feel Lyra sticking her tongue in her mouth. The tongue felt a little strange, as if it was actually two tongues feeling around in her mouth. She tried to pull away, but Lyra’s hoof came up around her neck and pulled her into the kiss. She felt the Unicorn’s tongue search around in her mouth for a moment longer, and then it pressed against the roof of her mouth.
Bon Bon’s vision blurred and her eyes fluttered closed. She felt extremely weak for a moment and her head was spinning. She felt like she was going to pass out, but then warmth flooded into her body. Memories of Lyra sprang to the forefront of her mind, drowning out her worries and suspicions. She inhaled sharply and wrapped her two front legs around Lyra’s neck, squeezing her as she pressed back into the kiss. She needed more of whatever this feeling was. She held her marefriend tight in the embrace, relishing the warmth and memories that the contact was bringing. She could stay like this forever, she decided. Forget the wedding, forget Berry, forget Equestria. She just wanted to stay where she was, squishing her mare against the wall with a kiss that would last for—
“Hey you two,” a voice said, shattering the moment. “If you’re going to do that, find a room.”
Bon Bon’s eyes snapped back open and the warmth fled from her body. She pulled, reluctantly, out of the kiss and looked around until she spied a guard glaring at her and Lyra. “Oh, um…excuse us,” she said bashfully. She had never lost control of herself like that before in public. She looked down at Lyra, trying to figure out what had just happened to make them behave that way. 
“So…?” Lyra asked, batting her eyes repeatedly as she looked up at Bon Bon.
Bon Bon wanted to get back to their hotel room. Or even just find a closet with Lyra, but she found that she couldn’t say no to those eyes. She simply nodded and Lyra’s face lit up with a smile. She took Bon Bon by the hoof and escorted her into the event room just as the guards closed the doors.
The two mares slowly made their way through the crowd until they found a place to stand.  Bon Bon looked around for Berry and Pinchy, but she saw no sign of them. She guessed they must have found Minuette and, unlike Bon Bon herself, had decided not to attend the wedding. Bon Bon figured that was probably for the best. She doubted Berry would have been a pleasant wedding guest after finding out that her wife had been removed from the wedding.  
Bon Bon brushed Lyra’s hind leg with her tail and smiled when she felt Lyra do the same. Lyra had been nervous, she decided. That was why she had been acting so strange before.  She just hadn’t been sure how to break the news to her.
Bon Bon felt a twinge of pain flash through her head and she rubbed her forehead in surprise. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with a headache. She didn’t want to deal with that while the wedding was going on.
She felt Lyra wrap her tail around her own and the pain diminished instantly. Bon Bon looked over at her mare and smiled as she wrapped her own tail around Lyra’s. Then the doors opened and the wedding began. 
Bon Bon watched as Shining Armor entered the room first, wearing a red uniform and carrying himself with pride. He didn’t seem too excited to be attending his own wedding, but Bon Bon figured it was just stress. He climbed the stairs and took his place.
Princess Celestia entered next and everypony bowed deeply. She nodded once and smiled, then gracefully walked down the carpet, her rainbow mane flowing elegantly behind her. She took her place at the head of the stairs and waited, smiling toward the door.
A few moments later, five ponies in dazzling dresses entered the room. It took Bon Bon a moment to recognize them as Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. So these were the mares that Princess Cadenza had found to replace Lyra and the others. Well, she could have done worse. These five were heroes throughout Equestria, but Bon Bon still wished she could see Lyra up there instead.
“Twilight’s missing,” she mumbled after a moment. “I wonder why.”
“Twilight?” Lyra whispered.
“If anypony was going to be in this wedding, I would have thought it would be her.” 
Lyra’s tail swished slightly, once again brushing the back of Bon Bon’s leg, and her mind blurred. Maybe Twilight was ill. Whatever the reason for her absence, Bon Bon decided it didn’t matter. As long as she was with Lyra, nothing else mattered. 
Finally, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza entered. Everypony gasped and gently tapped their hooves on the floor in applause. Princess Cadenza looked around the room, her eyes narrow and her chin upraised in true Canterlot fashion. She almost seemed to be wearing a sneer on her face as she looked at all the ponies present, but Bon Bon’s mind was going fuzzy again as she watched. 
“Lyra, I’m feeling…kind of dizzy,” she whispered as Princess Cadenza took the stage across from her soon-to-be husband. 
“Don’t worry, Bon Bons,” Lyra whispered. “If you faint, I’ll catch you.” She nuzzled Bon Bon’s cheek and strength returned to Bon Bon’s body, but her mind refused to clear. She heard Princess Celestia start talking, but the words were muffled. She sighed and tilted her head to the side until it came to rest on Lyra’s neck. She felt her hat get in the way and she grumbled about it, adjusting her head until the hat was no longer a problem, and then closed her eyes. Instead of listening to Princess Celestia speak, she listened to Lyra’s heartbeat and felt her body rise and fall with each breath. If she could just stay like this forever, she would be perfectly happy…
“Stooooooop!”
Bon Bon’s eyes snapped open and she jumped. She looked around as everypony gasped. She blinked several times until her eyes focused on the pony who had just shouted at the top of her lungs.
Twilight Sparkle was standing in the doorway, a grin on her face and a fire in her eyes. She was glaring at Princess Cadenza and Bon Bon feared she was about to charge the Princess. What was wrong with her?
“This isn’t good,” Lyra whispered. “She’s not supposed to be here.”
“She’s not?” Bon Bon asked.
“Why does she have to ruin my special day?” Princess Cadenza asked as she started to cry. 
What was Twilight thinking? She might be Princess Celestia’s star pupil, but that didn’t mean she could—
“Because!” a new voice shouted from the doorway. “It’s not your special day. It’s mine!”
Bon Bon, along with every other pony in the room, turned to see who the new arrival was. She could tell by the gasps that she wasn’t the only one confused to see another Princess Cadenza standing by Twilight.
“Wait, what?” Bon Bon said. She looked back to the stage to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. Her head was still unusually fuzzy, but she knew it wasn’t to the point where she was hallucinating. 
There were two Princess Cadenzas in the room, alright. One of them was up wearing a wedding dress and about to get married, while the other one looked like she had just crawled out of a ditch. What in Equestria was going on?
“This isn’t good,” Lyra said, her voice dropping to a low growl. Bon Bon was about to ask her what she meant, but the first Princess Cadenza started speaking.
“What?” she shouted. “But how did you get past my bridesmaids?”
“Bridesmaids?” Bon Bon asked. But…her bridesmaids were right there next to her. Unless she meant Lyra and the others. But that didn’t make any sense either. Lyra was standing next to Bon Bon and she—
Bon Bon’s head suddenly felt like someone had wacked it with a hammer. She winced and nearly collapsed. What was wrong with her?
“Lyra,” she whispered. “I…I think I need to go lay down.” 
“Yeah, we should probably get out of here,” Lyra said. “Things are about to—”
“She’s a Changeling,” the non-wedding Cadenza said as she limped into the room. “She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them.” 
“A…Changeling?” Bon Bon asked, but again her head exploded in pain. Why was it getting so hard to think now? 
“We really need to get out of her, Bonnie,” Lyra said, talking Bon Bon’s hoof and starting to pull her toward the door.
“That’s…not…” Bon Bon’s head was killing her now. Words were almost impossible to form in her mind, much less speak, but she knew something about what Lyra had just said was wrong. If she could just focus, if she could just push the pain aside for a moment, could figure it out. 
A blinding flash of green light filled the room for a moment. Bon Bon looked to the stage and saw that the wedding Cadenza was surrounding by green flames. When they vanished, Cadenza was gone. 
In her place stood a creature that Bon Bon had never seen before. She was as tall as Princess Celestia, but that was where the similarities ended. This creature looked like a cross between a pony and a bug. Her wings were torn and insect-like and the horn coming from her head was twisted and jagged. Her dark aqua mane, if it could be called that, was flat and lifeless. Its ends were split and she seemed to have holes in it and in her tail, which would have been odd enough, except she also had holes in her legs. How was she able to stand with holes in her legs? 
“Right you are, Princess,” the creature said with a menacing laugh. Her voice seemed to echo in her mouth and Bon Bon noticed that she had fangs. Her eyes were huge green orbs with two black slit irises that only added to her insect appearance. “And as Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects,” the creature said as she walked down the stairs toward the real Princess Cadenza. 
“Queen Chrysalis,” Lyra said and Bon Bon swore she saw the Unicorn bow her head slightly. 
Love. Queen. Food. There was something about those words that was eating away at Bon Bon, but her head screamed at her any time she tried to focus on them. She reached out and touched Lyra to steady herself. The pain dimmed, but her head refused to clear. What was wrong with her? 
“No, you won’t,” a new voice said. The power behind the new voice shoved the fog from Bon Bon’s mind for a moment. She took a deep breath and looked to the stage to see Princess Celestia walking toward…what had Lyra called her? Chrysalis? “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 shall protect my subjects,” Princess Celestia charged Chrysalis and the two locked horns, “from you!”
Bon Bon watched in awe as Princess Celestia battled Chrysalis and she felt her strength returning to her body with each second that passed. She had never seen the Princess so enraged before. She was always so graceful, so elegant, so…princessy that Bon Bon could hardly believe what she was seeing. She knew she should run, but she wanted to stay and watch. This was something she doubted she would never get a chance to see again. 
Princess Celestia flew into the air and fired a magic blast down at Chrysalis. The Queen of the Changelings fired a magical blast from her twisted horn, but the green energy was pathetic. Celestia’s golden light shoved Chrysalis’s magic aside, threatening to engulf the strange creature in blinding light. 
But just when it looked like the fight was done, Chrysalis seemed to gain new strength. Her magic began to overpower Princess Celestia’s. Bon Bon watched in horror as the Princess’s magic was slowly pushed back and the Princess was blasted out of the air in a green explosion. 
“Okay, time to go!” Lyra said as she grabbed Bon Bon’s hoof and dragged her through the crowd of gasping ponies. She heard Queen Chrysalis laughing, followed by several screams, but the pain in her head had returned. It was all she could do to stay on her hooves and allow Lyra to lead her out the door. 
The two ponies managed to make it outside before the entire world began to fall apart. Bon Bon heard the sound of something shattering all around her. Her body shook and she struggled to stay upright as the vibrations rocked the air.  She looked up and felt her heart fall into her stomach. The  sky was full of Changelings, and they had just broken the protective shield around Canterlot. 
“Lyra, what’s happening?” Bon Bon asked, but Lyra didn’t answer. She continued to drag her down the steps out of the castle. She was pulling so hard and fast that Bon Bon was having trouble keeping up.
“Hurry up,” Lyra hissed. “The invasion’s started. I need to stash you somewhere where the others won’t find you.” 
The Changelings plunged out of the sky in green flames. They slammed into the ground and crawled out their impact craters, hissing and taking to the air with their wings. They swarmed over Canterlot, chasing ponies, attacking the guards, and throwing the entire city into chaos. Two of them landed directly in front of Bon Bon and Lyra. They hissed at the two ponies, showing their fangs as their wings flapped rapidly.
“Lyra…” Bon Bon whispered.
“Back off!” Lyra snapped, and Bon Bon was surprised when the two Changelings looked at one another, and then flew away. Lyra nodded and then continued to pull Bon Bon through the streets. They turned down an alley and the screams of panicking ponies began to fade until they were nothing but background noise. 
“Lyra, please stop,” Bon Bon said as they reached a dead end. “My head is killing me. I can’t…keep going.”
“Don’t worry, that’s about to end,” Lyra said. She looked around and checked behind them to make sure no Changelings were following. “It should only last for a few more moments, and then you’ll pass out.”
“W-What?” Bon Bon asked. She staggered forward and reached out for Lyra, but the Unicorn just stood there and watched her collapse on the ground. 
“Lyra?”
“Some of us snuck into Canterlot with the Queen,” Lyra said as she again looked back down the alley. “We were to scout the city, gather information. Replace certain ponies in preparation for the main invasion. Mostly guards.”
Bon Bon’s head was pounding now. She closed her eyes and let out a little whimper as the pain beat on her skull. “What…are you talking about…?”
“We’re under orders not to harm anypony here. Just capture all of you.” Lyra looked down at Bon Bon and sneered. “The Queen said there’d be more than enough love for all of us if we kept you all as prisoners. Enough to last us for a few years at least.” Lyra licked her lips and Bon Bon’s eyes went wide when Lyra’s tongue appeared to be forked. 
“No…” she whispered.
“But you? You’re love is delicious,” Lyra said as she slowly closed on Bon Bon. “It’s so sweet, so pure, so innocent. I’ve been feeding off of it for a while now, but that kiss? Wow. I’ve never tasted anything like that.” Lyra put her hoof under Bon Bon’s chin and raised her head. “Do you know how hard it was to restrain myself from sucking you dry? Standing next to you during that wedding was torture for me. I even had to give some of your love back to keep you from passing out.”
“You…you can’t…” Bon Bon said, trying to pull away from the Changeling’s hoof but lacking the strength to do so.
“Oh, I know. If the Queen found out what I was doing, she’d be very displeased.” Not-Lyra kissed Bon Bon again and Bon Bon recoiled as she felt the forked tongue slip into her mouth. She quivered as her strength left her, but once again that feeling of bliss flooded her body, only this time it sickened her. 
“Get…off me,” she said, pushing the Changeling away as tears came to her eyes.
“I’m keeping you for myself,” the Changeling said as it transformed into its true body. “Of course at this rate, I doubt you’ll last much longer. You’re already at the brink. Maybe enough love left for one or two good feedings, and then you’ll be nothing but a husk. It’s too bad really. I doubt I’ll be able to find another pony that tastes as good as you.” The Changeling put it’s front hooves on either side of Bon Bon’s face and raised her up.  It opened its mouth to reveal several sharp teeth and a pair of fangs. Its blue tongue flicked about and the creature hissed with delight.
“Please,” Bon Bon pleaded, but her body was too weak to resist the creature’s hold.
“But I suppose I can go find Lyra after this,” the Changeling said as it drew closer. “Maybe she’ll taste just as good.”
	
	
> The Counterattack 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Seven. Berry Punch was pretty sure that was how many Changelings she had counted. Unfortunately, she had no way to be certain of that at the moment, because she was sailing through the air. A moment later, her trip ended as she slammed into the wall behind the counter. Pain raced through her body as dozens of bottles shattered around her and she fell to the floor.
Changelings apparently hit hard. Very hard. 
“Is that—” A bottle fell on Berry’s head and she winced, “all you got?” She stood up and looked down at her hooves. Part of her wanted to cry. So many good drinks, wasted. 
She brushed the thought from her mind and looked up at the Changelings closing around her. Yep. There were seven all right, and they all looked exactly the same. Which was a problem, because now she didn’t know which one to leave alive enough to get some answers.
“I think I remember you now,” one of the Changelings said with a sneer. “You’re that pony who was with one of the Queen’s bridesmaids. She told me to look out for—”
“How many teeth do freaks like you have?” Berry asked as she stepped forward. The question stunned the Changelings so much that they stopped advancing. She shrugged, found a glass that hadn’t broken when they had knocked her across the room, and poured herself a drink from a broken bottle. “Well? Can you guys not count past two or something?”
The Changelings all blinked at each other, and then the one who Berry was pretty sure was pretending to be Minuette spoke. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Because.” Berry drained her glass in one gulp. It was wine. A pretty good year too, judging by the snap in left in her mouth and the pleasant aroma that flooded her nostrils. Too bad most of it had been spilled on the floor. “I need to know how many teeth you can eat before I run out. Although, I suppose I can just start tearing them out of your friends’ mouths once you’re empty. Feed you those ones too.”
The Changelings blinked and a few of them looked nervous, but they didn’t break. “Good luck with that, pony,” the not-Minuette one said. 
“Not going to need it.” Berry flung the broken wine bottle at the Changeling’s face. The last of the wine splashed in its insect eyes, but it managed to duck the bottle. That didn’t matter though. Berry slammed her glass against the counter and broke it. She then flung that at the Changeling’s face as it swore and tried to wipe the liquid from its face. 
The broken glass hit the creature’s face, opening a deep gash on its left cheek. Perfect. Now Berry knew which one of these freaks to go semi-easy on. The rest were just so much dead weight now. 
“Get her!” the Changeling yelled as it rubbed its cheek. The other six rushed the Earth pony, four of them taking to the air and the other two charging on the ground.
Berry Punch had been in her fair share of bar brawls. Probably more than her fair share, actually. She had learned that her hooves weren’t the only things she could fight with. There were bottles, glasses, stools, tables, and as one Changeling was about to find out, the counter itself. 
The first Changeling to reach Berry was one of the flying ones. He—at least Berry assumed it was a he—flew over the counter and lunged for her. His mistake. 
Berry leaned to the side at the last second, causing the Changeling to overshoot her. He came to a halt in the air, but it was already too late. Berry stood up on her hind legs and brought both of her front hooves down on the creature’s back. He crashed into the counter, or rather, half of him did. The other half kept going because he was halfway over the counter. His face slammed into the base of the counter with a sickening thud! His wings went limp instantly and Berry allowed gravity to do its work as the body slid off the counter. 
Ha. This won’t be so—
Berry’s victory was cut short a moment later as the next two Changelings slammed into her. The first plunged his hoof into her stomach, causing her to double over from her standing stance. As her face came down, the other Changeling slammed his hoof into her chin, causing her head to whip back painfully, but they didn’t stop there. Berry felt another hoof connect with her cheek as one of the Changelings spun and slammed its back leg into her face. Once again, she found herself collapsed on the floor behind the bar counter.
“Okay,” she said as she struggled to keep her eyes open. “This…might be harder than I thought.” She started to crawl forward but felt something clamp down on her tail and then yank her across the floor. Her body slid through the spilt drinks and shattered glass. She winced as her body was cut open in different places, and swore when a particularly big piece of glass cut into her side. 
The Changeling that was dragging her flipped her over and then stomped on one of her front hooves. She groaned and started to reach out with her other hoof, but another Changeling slammed down on that, causing her to scream in pain. Finally, the Changeling whose face she had cut stood over her, licking his lips.
“I think the Queen can forgive us if we got rid of you,” he said. He bent down until his face was only a few inches away from Berry’s. 
“Usually I’m down for this sort of thing, but I hardly know you,” Berry said. She had to stay conscious. The pain from her hooves being stepped on was starting to become unbearable and she could feel the blood seeping out of her stomach wound, but she knew that if she passed out, she was done. 
The Changeling morphed back into Minuette and smiled. “What do you mean? Of course you know me,” he said with a look that Berry knew would haunt her for life. “Don’t worry, dear, we’ll be gentle.” The Changeling leaned in closer and opened its mouth.
“See, that right there proves you’re not her,” Berry said. She summoned as much strength as she could and pulled her hind legs in to her stomach, and then kicked them straight up. They slammed into not-Minuette’s stomach and the Changeling sailed upward. He crashed into the tavern’s ceiling and his eyes went wide and then he started to fall back to the floor. Berry caught him on her hind legs and pushed him backward, causing him to crash to the floor at the other end of the bar. “Minuette knows I like it rough!”
Whether from shock at seeing their leader so completely trashed, or surprise that this Earth pony still had so much strength left, one of the Changelings eased up his pressure on Berry’s hoof. That was all she needed. She yanked her hoof free and immediately slammed it into the leg of the other one holding her down. The impact caused a new sensation of pain to race through her entire foreleg, but she used that to fuel her strength. She swung again and the Changeling’s leg buckled, freeing her. 
Berry rolled over and stifled a scream as the wound in her stomach burned. She stood up and slammed her head into the neck of the Changeling whose leg she was pretty sure she had just broken. The impact caused her sight to go dangerously dark, but she didn’t need to see. She just kept pushing forward like a bull until she slammed the Changeling against the wall. The creature let out a gasp and Berry felt it go limp on her head. She pulled back, the darkness receding from her eyes, and watched the Changeling slump to the ground in a heap. 
Three down, four to—
“ARGH!” Agony raced through Berry’s flank. She stumbled forward a bit and caught herself on the wall. She struggled to catch her breath as pain seared through her lower body. She looked over her shoulder and saw that a Changeling had clamped down on her, sinking his fangs deep into her flesh. 
“H-Hey!” Berry said. She swung her hips and slammed the creature into the bar counter. “I don’t know you nearly well enough for that!” 
The Changeling dislodged himself from her flank and hissed at her, then lunged forward. He opened his mouth wide, revealing his blood-covered fangs, and went straight for Berry’s neck. 
“What are you, a vampire?” Berry stood up on her hind legs and threw a punch. The blow connected solidly with the Changeling’s face, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as she had intended. The pain that burst through her body as all of her wait shifted onto her hind legs nearly caused her to collapse. She immediately returned to standing on all fours and the pain lessened, but it didn’t fade completely.
The Changeling shook his head and rubbed his cheek and then glared at Berry. He charged forward again, this time taking to the air slightly with his wings. He slammed into Berry with his shoulder, knocking the air from her lungs and causing her to once again fall to the floor where she felt another shard of glass cut into her flesh. 
“If you want to get me on my back that badly,” Berry frantically reached around with her hooves until she found something solid, “then at least buy me a drink first!” She swung the bottle she had found and it shattered over the Changeling’s head. He howled in pain and surprise, but Berry didn’t relent. She slammed her other hoof into the creature’s face a second time, and this time she put her Earth pony strength behind the blow. 
The Changeling’s head whipped back at a sickening angle, and while Berry knew she hadn’t hit him hard enough to kill him, she wouldn’t be surprised if he had trouble walking straight for the rest of his life. He fell into a pool of spilled drinks and lay there, groaning quietly. 
Berry picked herself up again and noticed that it was considerably harder to do than the last few times. This wasn’t good. Her body was pushing its limits and she still had three of these freaks to deal with. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do it.
If I don’t, they get Pinchy, she thought, and the strength to stand up came a little easier. She knew she had to get out from behind the bar counter. Between slipping around on the spilled drinks and the broken glass, it was a dangerous place to continue fighting. 
Berry tried to vault over the counter, but her body refused to support the momentum. Instead, she half climbed, half fell over the counter. She steadied herself on a stool and looked around the room. There were only three Changelings left standing now. She had faced worse odds, but never in her condition. 
“Well,” Berry said, forcing a smile and casually flipping her curly plum mane back with her hoof. “Which one of you wants to try next?”
“We’re done playing, pony,” one of them said. 
“Aw, no more foreplay?” Berry said as she batted her eyes. “But I was doing so—”
The three Changelings rushed her and she knew she couldn’t stop them all. She braced herself for the impact, expecting all three of them to jump her at once. She was trying to figure out how she could deal with them all at once when the first one flew past her, slapping her in the face with its short black tail. Her eyes watered from the impact and she closed them, trying to ignore the stinging sensation. A second later she realized her mistake and flung her eyes open, but it was too late.
The second Changeling slammed its front hoof into Berry’s chin, then grabbed her head and lifted her off the ground. Berry then felt two hooves slam into her stomach and she flew backward. She expected to slam into the wall, again, but instead her back exploded in pain as another hoof slammed into her spine. She started to fall back to the ground, barely conscious, but just before she hit she felt something slide under her forelegs and catch her. She looked over her shoulder to see that one of the Changelings was holding her, pulling her forelegs back just enough to pin them and cause her muscles to ache. What did he think he was—
Berry Punch’s world exploded in pain as the Changeling restraining her sank its fangs into her neck. She tried to scream, but the other two Changelings hovered in front of her and hit her repeatedly. Berry felt a hoof slam into her stomach, punching the open wound she had there, and another come up between her hind legs, causing her eyes to water and her mind to nearly black out, and then several blows to her face. 
After what seemed like a lifetime, the Changeling finally released Berry. She felt the fangs come out of her neck and heard the sickening sucking sound they made as they did. She felt her body falling and she crashed to the ground, unable to even attempt to catch herself. 
Berry Punch lay on the ground. She tried to breathe, but air only came in shallow gasps. She sucked down as much as she could, but it immediately came back up in a violent coughing fit. She felt something catch in her throat and she spit it out. A strange taste flooded her mouth for a moment and then she heard a splashing sound. She opened her swollen eyes and saw blood pooling on the floor. Was that…her blood? She coughed again and she had her answer. 
“You don’t look so good, pony,” one of the Changelings said. Berry felt a hoof slam into her stomach and she screamed. Through the agony, she couldn’t help but think of her daughter. Her daughter, who was huddled away in a nearby room, listening to her mother getting the literal life beat out of her.
“I…I’m sorry, baby,” Berry whimpered. More tears came to her eyes, but they weren’t ones of pain.
“Now, now, we don’t want you dead,” the Changeling said as he kicked Berry again, rolling her onto her back. “Not yet, anyway. Let’s see if we can keep you alive just a little longer, huh?”
Berry felt a strange cooling sensation on her stomach. She struggled to raise her head and saw that one of the Changelings’ horns was glowing green. She looked and saw that a green slime had covered the wound on her stomach. It still hurt, but the cooling sensation was slowly dulling the pain at least. She took a deep breath and allowed her head to collapse back on the floor. 
“So, what do we do with her?”
“Eat her, of course.”
Berry felt the same cooling sensation on her hooves. She tried to move them, but the effort was too much. She looked to her right and saw that her hoof was covered in the same green ooze, pinning it to the floor.
“Don’t forget her hind legs this time.”
“You sure she’s going to last? She’s near death. I don’t think we’ll be able to drain the love out of her.”
Drain…my love?
“Then we’ll just have to take it directly. I got a pretty good mouthful when I bit her.”
“Then you go last. I doubt she’ll survive another feeding, and since you already had your share, you go after us.”
“So why do you get to go before me?” a third voice hissed.
“Fine. We’ll go at the same time.” Berry felt a hoof slap her face. “Hey, wake up! Sorry about this. Usually, a pony just grows weak and eventually passes out. There’s no pain. But you, well…you don’t look like you’re going to last much longer. So this,” Berry let out another scream as a hoof pushed down on the puncture wounds on her neck, “is going to hurt. A lot. No sense in letting a good meal go to waste, after all.”
Berry tried to focus through her swollen eyes. All she saw were two mouths opening before her, lined with sharp teeth and glittering fangs, slowly drawing closer. 


*                                                                                *                                                                                *


The memory flashed through Bon Bon’s mind. She saw herself floating above Lyra and their bed. She remembered smiling as she looked down on the nervous Unicorn, who had no idea what to do. She hadn’t even thought of holding Bon Bon with her magic. Bon Bon had given her that idea. Bon Bon reached out with her hoof and gently brushed Lyra’s cheek, then tilted her head up so their eyes met. 
“I trust you,” she whispered. “Do whatever you want.”
The memory of the first time they had slept together began to dim and Bon Bon felt tears falling from her eyes. She felt that horrible snake tongue slithering around, pressing its forked end against the roof of her mouth. She felt the Changeling’s disgusting lips pressed against her own. She felt her body tremble as more of her strength fled her body.
“Mmm…delicious,” the Changeling said as he pulled out of the kiss. He casually released Bon Bon’s chin and she collapsed on the ground. She didn’t even try to stand this time. Her strength was gone and her mind was slipping away. All she could remember now was her time with Lyra. Sleeping together, walking together, cuddling, and so many other things, and even those memories were starting to fade. She could no longer recall the color of Lyra’s coat, or remember what it felt like to be fully wrapped in her magic. She was losing her, and there was nothing she could do.
A tear fell from one of Bon Bon’s blue eyes as she lay on the stone street. This day was supposed to be special. She was supposed to spend it with her mare, watching the wedding of the year in Canterlot. 
“Oh, don’t worry,” the Changeling said. Bon Bon felt him lift her up and press her against the wall. “It’s almost over.” Bon Bon felt a cooling sensation slowly enveloping her body. She looked down and saw that the Changeling was slowly incasing her in some sort of green slime. He covered her of her body except her head, and then stepped away, leaving her hanging from the wall. 
“Lyra…” Bon Bon whispered. She struggled to hold on to the Unicorn’s memory. Celestia, she couldn’t even remember the color of her eyes anymore. What color were Lyra’s eyes? What was her last name? 
“Oh, don’t worry about Lyra,” the Changeling said as he walked up to Bon Bon. He pressed his forehead against hers. “She’ll be joining you soon enough. After I’ve finished you, I’ll be going for her.”
Her smile! Bon Bon still remembered Lyra’s smile! Celestia, please let her remember Lyra’s smile. Even if she couldn’t remember her name, or her mane color, or even her face, please let her remember her smile. That smile that could light up a room and always banished even the darkest thoughts from Bon Bon’s mind. 
“I…I hope…” Bon Bon said as she clamped down on the memory of Lyra’s beautiful smile. 
“What?” the Changeling asked. “That somepony will come save you? Forget it. Canterlot belongs to us now.”
Bon Bon glared into the blue insect eyes in front of her. “I hope you choke on it!” she spat. 
“Defiant to the end I see,” the Changeling said. He shoved his hoof under Bon Bon’s chin. “Good. It makes those last few drops taste extra sweet.”
Bon Bon felt her mouth being forced open again. She quivered as those disgusting lips pressed against her one last time. She felt the forked tongue shoot into her mouth and press down on the roof of her mouth. Her eyes became heavy and her body sagged. If it weren’t for the cocoon she was wrapped in, she knew she would be sprawled on the ground. She struggled to keep her eyes open and tried to pull away, but her body was failing her. One more tear escaped before her eyes closed.
The…smile. She had to remember the smile. That glorious, blinding smile  from…who? Who did that smile belong to? Why was she trying so hard to remember it, even as the last of her life slipped away? It was somepony important she thought. But why did she think that? Was it because it made her feel warm? Yes, that had to be it. It was safe. It was comfort. It was something that could banish any darkness. But whom did it belong to? Was it her smile? No, that didn’t seem right. It didn’t belong to her. It belonged to somepony else. Her mother maybe? No, that didn’t seem right either. 
The smile began to fade and panic rose in the pony’s mind. Darkness started to swallow the blinding teeth and the feeling of warmth vanished. Biting cold and sickening isolation filled the void. The pony reached out for the smile. She couldn’t lose it, not here. If it vanished, she knew she’d never find it again and she’d be lost forever. She needed to get it back from this darkness. It was all she had left. She couldn’t even remember her own name, but she knew she needed that smile.
Give it back!
She lunged after the smile and grabbed it. Pain bit into her hooves and up her legs as the darkness engulfed her. It tore at her, trying to tear the smile from her grasp. She pulled it close and wrapped herself around it, shielding its fading light.
You can’t have it! It’s not yours!
The darkness bit her back and she screamed. It wanted the smile, and it would not be denied, but still the pony refused to let go. She held on tighter. It didn’t belong to the darkness. It belonged to her. It belonged to…
“My name’s Lyra.”
That’s right! The smile belonged to Lyra! But…who was Lyra? Why was her smile so important?
A warm sensation began to build in the pony’s stomach. She clamped down around it, trying to press more of her body against the warmth. It was so familiar, so welcoming, and it caused the darkness’s bite to lessen.
“Thanks. For…talking to me. Most ponies never talk to me, or they tease me. They think I’m weird.”
The warmth grew stronger and the pony loosened her grip on the smile. It was starting to burn her stomach.
“Well, I’ll be your friend.”
That wasn’t Lyra’s voice. That was somepony else. Was that…her voice? It sounded familiar, but friend wasn’t the right word. Lyra was something else, but what? 
“You are. You are totally jealous. Whatever you say, love. So, just to show you that you have nothing to worry about, I think the bed’s a little too neat.”
Love. That was what Lyra was. She was the love of—
“Hey, Bon Bon. I’m home.”
Bon Bon! That was her name! And she loved Lyra!
The smile exploded in Bon Bon’s grip. Warmth flooded her body and she heard the darkness shriek in pain as it shot away. A brilliant light replaced it. It slowly took the shape of a pony, and then its brightness faded into softer colors of minty greens and soft whites. Two golden suns formed eyes and a golden lyre appeared on her beautiful flank.
Lyra was hers, and nothing was going to take her away.
Bon Bon’s blue eyes snapped open. The Changeling was still pressed against her lips, its tongue was still resting inside her mouth, and she was still losing strength. She could already feel the blinding memory of Lyra beginning to fade again. She had to do something.
“Give her back!” Bon Bon shouted, even though it came out as nothing more than a muffled noise. She felt her tongue slap against the Changeling’s and her skin crawled. 
The Changeling looked up at her with its blue eyes and Bon Bon knew he was sneering at her. He thought he had won, and if Bon Bon didn’t do something, he would.
“Lyra is mine!” Bon Bon said, her tongue again slapping against the Changeling’s in a muffled noise. The memory was fading faster now. She was already starting to forget the color of Lyra’s cutie mark. She needed to do something now.
Bon Bon’s tongue again brushed the Changeling’s and an idea sprang forth. It was disgusting, and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to get the taste out of her mouth, but it was either that or death.
Bon Bon pressed her tongue up and pinned the Changeling’s against the roof of her mouth. She felt the thing struggling and the Changeling himself went stiff. Bon Bon looked into his blue insect eyes and felt a smile come to her lips. She saw the Changeling’s eyes go wide as he realized too late what she was about to do.
The Earth pony bit down as hard as she could.
Bon Bon felt resistance between her teeth for only a moment and then her teeth came together. She felt the tongue fall into her mouth followed quickly by a rush of blood. She felt her throat clench and her stomach heave as a wretched taste filled her mouth. Her cheeks puffed as she made ready to spit the bile out along with the severed body part, but she froze when the Changeling’s screams reached her ears. 
The Changeling reeled back, letting out a noise that Bon Bon could only imagine came from the depths of Tartarus. He hollowed at the sky, blood spewing from his mouth and staining the floor and walls around him as he shook his head. He dashed around the small alley, jumping up and down and trying to stop the purple blood that was flowing from his mouth. Nothing slowed it though, and he continued to dance around in agony. 
Bon Bon spit the fluid and meat from her mouth. It made a sickening splat as it hit the ground in front of her. 
“Lyra is mine!” she said again, blood trickling between her teeth and down her chin. She could feel strength returning to her body and she began to struggle against the cocoon that was holding her. She pressed her hooves against the wall and pushed as hard as she could. She felt the green slime stretch as her fur pressed against it, and for a moment it seemed like it wouldn’t give, but then she heard the sound of something ripping. She relaxed and pushed again, harder this time, and she felt the slime give way even more. She looked down and saw that it was thinning in some areas and small tears were beginning to show around the edges. 
“You! I’ll—argh! I’ll kill you!” The Changeling glared at her, blood still streaming from his mouth. His blue eyes were wide with pain and a wild rage. He lowered his head and charged, the tip of his horn aimed at Bon Bon’s chest. 
Bon Bon felt panic rise in her as she watched the horn. She put all her strength into freeing herself. She channeled her desperation into her muscles and pushed as hard as she could. There was a loud ripping sound and her body began to fall forward as the cocoon tore apart. 
As the Earth Pony fell forward, she twisted to the side to avoid the Changeling’s horn, but the Changeling was already too close. The horn tore through her shoulder and sent pain screeching through her body, but she quickly pushed it aside.
Bon Bon hit the ground and rolled, her wounded shoulder protesting in pain as it slammed into the ground. She sprang up and nearly collapsed as her wound ached, but the pain was quickly crushed under the single burning thought in her mind:
Get him!
The Changeling slammed into the wall where Bon Bon had been pinned and staggered as his head met stone instead of flesh. Bon Bon screamed like a wild animal and rushed him, intent on turning the creature into nothing more than a smear on the sidewalk. Every step she took reminded her that her shoulder had a gaping wound in it, but the pain only fueled her anger.
Lyra was hers! How dare this thing try to take her away! How dare—
The Changeling spun around faster than Bon Bon thought it could and slammed its front hoof into her face. Her head whipped to the side and she felt blood smear around her eye and fill her own mouth as she bit her tongue, but she didn’t care. She kept charging until her head crashed into the beast and they both tumbled to the ground.
It took Bon Bon only a moment to realize she was on top before she started beating the Changeling with her hooves. She swung at his face and eyes again and again, each impact only making her hungry for more. The Changeling swung back, connecting with her chin and muzzle countless times while it also tried to block her blows. She felt like she was back in grade school, fighting those two bullies who had picked on her and Lyra.
The Changeling swung his head as Bon Bon pulled her foreleg back for another blow and his horn sliced into the Earth Pony’s foreleg. She winced and stalled her attack. The Changeling wiggled and kicked up with his hind legs. It wasn’t a powerful kick, but it was enough to force Bon Bon off of him. She looked down at her wounded leg and then at the Changeling.
He was struggling to stand, and even though his face was now a purple bloody mess, he still had the same rabid look in his eyes. He hissed at her, spitting blood everywhere as it flowed from his mouth in small rivers, dripping from his fangs and trickling down his chin.  The sight was enough to calm the rage that was devouring Bon Bon’s mind. In fact, a small part of her felt sorry for him as she watched him.
“Where’s Lyra?” she demanded, slowly becoming more aware of the pain she was in as her anger faded. “What did you do with her?”
The Changeling simply roared at her and charged again. Fine. If that was how he wanted it.
Bon Bon reared up on her hind legs and brought her front ones down just as the Changeling reached her. Her hooves slammed into the creature’s neck and back, smashing him into the ground. She heard something snap along with a sickening thud as she forced the Changeling’s body to the ground. Pain shot up her wounded leg moments later and she instantly eased up on the pressure, but she knew the fight was over. 
The Changeling wasn’t moving. He lay on the ground, blood still flowing from his mouth and other wounds, but his eyes were closed. For a long moment, Bon Bon stood there, staring at him. She wasn’t sure if he was dead. Cautiously, she reached out with her hoof and shook him. There was no response. 
Serves him right, she thought. She turned to leave when she noticed the creature’s wings twitched. She brushed it off as the wind blowing through the torn things, but then she saw the Changeling stir. 
Against her better judgment, Bon Bon sighed and knelt down. She grabbed the Changeling’s tail in her mouth and began to drag him out of the alley. A dark purple streak followed them, and a few times the creature’s head bounced against the wall or over an uneven stone, but he still showed no signs of waking up. Part of Bon Bon hoped he wouldn’t, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she left him to slowly die in an alley. 
Bon Bon reached the mouth of the alley and looked around. Canterlot was in chaos. Changelings filled the skies and ran through the streets, chasing down ponies and sealing them in the same green cocoons that Bon Bon had been trapped in. None of them seemed to notice her yet, although she didn’t know how long that would last. Judging by the lack of guards and other ponies, it looked like it would be much sooner than she preferred. 
Bon Bon let go of the Changeling’s tail and left him laying on the sidewalk in plain view. Maybe one of the other Changelings would see him and help, or maybe they really were like insects and would just leave him to die of his wounds. Either way, it was no longer her concern. The fact that she hadn’t left him in that alley was more than she owed him. She had something much more important to worry about. She had to find out where Lyra was. The problem was, she had no idea where to start looking. 
A pony came running down the street, her mane flying behind her. Three Changelings rounded a corner and pursued her. Bon Bon ducked back into the alley and pressed herself against the wall.  The pony ran past screaming and the Changelings quickly followed. There was a flash of green light and then the screaming became muffled before falling completely silent.  
Bon Bon closed her eyes and waited for the Changelings to come back for her. She counted to twenty and when nothing happened, she opened her eyes and stuck her head out of the alley. The Changelings were standing over the pony, slowly sealing her in a cocoon. Her eyes were wide and she was still struggling, but it was clearly already too late.
Bon Bon shuddered as she stared at the cocoon. That could have been her. The Changelings hadn’t viciously attacked the pony like Bon Bon had been attacked, but she knew what was in store for the poor mare. She wanted to go help, but she knew she didn’t have the time. If the Changelings were correct, if Canterlot was about to fall, then she had to hurry and find Lyra. If they were doomed, then they were going to be doomed together.
Suddenly, one of the Changelings stood up straight and his ears twitched. He looked at his two companions and they nodded, then all three of them took to the sky and started making their way back toward Canterlot castle. They were joined by dozens more, all heading in the same direction. Bon Bon didn’t know what was going on, but she knew a lucky break when she saw one. She stepped out of the alley, taking one last look at the crumpled Changeling on ground, and then began running down the street, doing her best to endure the pain from her wounded shoulder and leg.
“Where am I going?” she asked herself as she dashed around a corner and onto a main street. Green cocoons and destruction were everywhere, but there was no sign of any Changelings. 
Bon Bon ran past all the cocoons, trying not to look at the unconscious ponies trapped inside. She didn’t have time free them all. Whatever had called the Changelings away wouldn’t last, and she had to find Lyra now. 
She was starting to wish she hadn’t beaten that Changeling into a coma, or worse.
“Berry!” she said as she came to a halt. If Lyra had been replaced, Minuette probably had been too, and by now Berry knew about it. And if Bon Bon knew anything at all about Berry, the Changeling she had left on the street was probably in better shape than any that had messed with Berry. 
Berry was probably tearing Canterlot apart looking for her wife, or she was hunting Changelings so she could beat the information out of them. Whatever she was doing, Bon Bon decided that her chances of finding Lyra were much higher if she found Berry first. 
“But where would she—”
A window near Bon Bon exploded and the mare immediately ducked. The sudden movement sent a fresh wave of pain through her legs as glass fell around her. She covered her head and then the body of a Changeling landed in front of her.. He tried to crawl away, but only made it a small way before raising his hoof and then passing out. Shards of glass, some of them very large, were embedded in his body. 
Bon Bon looked to the shattered window and was surprised to see that she had run straight to the tavern she and Berry had visited the previous night. Whoever was inside was clearly giving the Changelings a run for their bits. 
Bon Bon slowly approached the entrance, expecting Changelings to pour out of the door at any moment. She pushed the door open and stuck her head in.
The tavern was trashed. Broken glasses and bottles were everywhere. Chairs and tables were overturned and all sorts of drinks, savory and otherwise, were splashed about the place.  
And in the center of the room were two pony figures. One of them had the other pinned to the floor and was slowly pressing down on the pony’s throat. The pony was kicking and trying to escape, but its flailing was becoming weaker with every second.
Bon Bon flung the door open. “No! Stop!” 

 
*                                                                                     *                                                                                    *


Berry Punch closed her eyes and waited for the fangs to sink into her neck. This was it. She’d never get to see Pinchy grow up. She’d never get to embarrass her in front of her date, or see her get married, or become a grandmother. She’d never get to see Minuette again, or feel her wrap a scarf around her neck, or cuddle together on a blanket. 
She had to hope that Minuette was okay. She had to, because if she wasn’t, then Pinchy was going to be left all alone. That wasn’t acceptable. Maybe Pinchy would be caught and taken to wherever Minuette was being held, and the two of them could escape together. Yes, that was what would happen. Berry knew her daughter and she knew her mare. They would never give up. They would be okay. In fact, Princess Celestia was probably organizing a counter attack right now, and soon the guards would come storming through the city and save Pinchy and find Minuette. She told herself there was nothing to worry about. She could die knowing that her loves would be safe.
“Wait!” a voice shouted. “That pony is mine.”
Berry opened her eyes but all she saw were four rows of sharp teeth and fangs inches away from her face. It was enough to make her skin crawl and she would have shuddered, but she was too beaten. 
“Ugh,” she said, trying to summon up some sort of defiance. “Don’t you freaks ever brush your teeth? Minuette gets on me about my breath sometimes after a few drinks, but I’m pretty sure she’d have to light a fire to get rid of your stench.”  
One of the Changelings pulled away from her. The other hissed in her face, making spit fly into her mouth and eyes, then did the same. 
The Changeling who had been pretending to be Minuette came toward Berry. The cut on his face was still oozing purple blood and he was walking with a serious limp. Judging by the way he kept stumbling every time he took a step, Berry was pretty sure she had broken a rib or two when she had kicked him into the ceiling. Also, even though they had already been tattered, she was pretty sure a Changeling’s wings weren’t supposed to be bent that badly. 
The Changeling leaned over her and sneered. “You know, that really hurt,” he said. 
“Aw, I’m sorry,” Berry said as she glared up at the blue eyes. “I told you I liked it rough. Didn’t realize you were such a pus—”
The Changeling stomped down on Berry’s wound and she screamed. She tried to roll away, but the ooze on her hooves kept her firmly in place. She thrashed about in agony as the Changeling pressed down harder, forcing the green ooze into her body.
“Rough enough for you?” he asked, finally taking his hoof off just before Berry blacked out.
“Min…Minuette…does it…better,” she heaved between breaths.
“Well, you can be sure to tell her that when you see her again.”
Berry forced a laugh. “What? You’re…letting me go? Thanks. Now…I’ll just…cripple you…instead of…outright…killing you.”
“Oh no.” The Changeling put his hoof on Berry’s wound again and slowly began to push down. When the pain became too much and she opened her mouth toe scream, he pressed another hoof down on her throat, cutting off her air. “I’m sending you to her right now.”
No! Not Minuette! You bastards! Berry narrowed her eyes through the pain and tears. She wanted nothing more than to rip that Changeling’s horn off and shove it down his throat, but she could feel her lungs burning and her eyes were having trouble saying open.
She thought about her daughter as her mind slipped further away. Berry wasn’t mother of the year by any stretch, but she liked to think she took care of her daughter well, and the Minuette was always be able to make up for Berry’s shortcomings. Now Pinchy was going to be left without either of them. It wasn’t fair.
“But…what about her love?” another Changeling asked. “She’s still got some left before…”
“Don’t worry about that.” The Changeling brought his face to within a few centimeters of Berry’s. “She has a daughter. We can just drain her instead. Little girls are always bubbling with the stuff.”
Berry Punch heard something snap. She wasn’t sure whether it was a bone in her body or just something in her mind, but she knew she heard it. These freaks had killed Minuette. They were not going to kill Pinchy too. 
A burning rage clouded Berry’s mind as she shoved her head forward as hard as she could. She was vaguely aware that the motion forced the hoof on her throat to go down even more, but the pain didn’t register. Neither did the impact of her forehead slamming against the Changeling’s face, causing him to stagger back and take his hooves off of her.
“Kill her already!” he shouted as he rubbed his forehead. 
Whatever had snapped in Berry had unleashed a torrent of animal rage and strength. She pulled with all her might and the ooze holding her forelegs down tore apart. She didn’t even bother trying to free her hind legs. She simply turned and wrapped her forelegs around the nearest Changelings and squeezed until she heard something crack, then dropped him on the floor. He screamed in pain, struggling to stand on a leg that was clearly broken. 
The Earth pony whipped around and slammed her hoof into the other Changeling that had been threatening to feed on her moments before. His head twisted to the side and he started to fall, but Berry caught him and slammed his head into the ground. She then dragged him over to her hind legs and jammed his horn into the green ooze. Moments later, she was free. She stood up and growled at the last two Changelings.
“Don’t just stand there,” the leader said to the other Changeling. “Kill her.” A primal part of Berry’s brain smiled when she saw him take a step back as he spoke. 
The Changeling looked back at the other one and then at Berry, and then took to the air and charged at her, mouth open and fangs bared. 
There was no time to think. Berry’s body simply reacted, fueled by an anger and a deep maternal instinct that went beyond pain and reason. She jumped at the Changeling, her body aching in protest but her mind ignoring it. The Changeling was caught completely by surprise and tried to swerve in midair, but it was too late. The Earth pony crashed into him and they both fell to the ground. 
Berry slammed her forelegs down on the creature’s stomach as soon as they landed, causing his eyes to go and his body to double up in pain. She then grabbed his tail with her teeth and spun around once as fast as she could before letting go, yanking out several black hairs as she did. The Changeling sailed through the air like a stone and slammed into the tavern’s window. It shattered in an instant, unable to slow the creature’s flight even a little. 
Finally, Berry turned her attention to the last Changeling. The one who had been pretending to be Minuette. The one who had caused her so much pain and broken her heart.
“Your turn,” she whispered darkly. 
The Changeling turned to run but Berry was faster. Once again, her mouth closed on a tail and she swung her head, slamming the Changeling into the counter. She then reached out and caught the back of his head with her hoof and slammed his face down on the counter. When she pulled it up, she was pleased to see that one of his fangs had broken clean off. 
“That’s one tooth down,” she said as she picked him up and dropped his entire body on the counter. “How many did we say you had? Not that it matters anymore, because I’m going to make you eat them all!” She slid his body down the counter, knocking over the few remaining drinks and glasses that hadn’t already been shattered.
The Changeling fell off the end of the counter and Berry walked over to him. Her rage was dying off and she found that even breathing was starting to take effort, but she didn’t care. She would see this monster dead for taking Minuette away from her and Pinchy. 
The Changeling was trying to crawl away, but Berry flipped him over on his back and pinned him with her forelegs. To say his face was a mess would have been too generous. She wondered who looked worse between the two of them.
“Here’s something I just don’t get,” she said, pressing down harder on the Changeling’s chest until he stopped squirming. “Your kind feeds on love, right? You have this perfect talent for that. You guys can take the shape of any pony you want. I mean, do you know how many stallions would kill to have a date with Princess Celestia? Or even how many mares? Or what about Princess Luna? Talk about forbidden fruit. Mm-hm…I wouldn’t even mind that one, and since you took Collie away from me…” Berry pushed down even harder on the creature’s chest at the mention of her beloved’s name. Nopony could every replace Minuette, not even a Princess, and she was going to make this Changeling regret that for the last few painful minutes of its miserable life. “I mean, talk about an endless supply of food. And you don’t even need to sleep with ponies. The sheer joy they would get from simply being in the presence of whoever they wanted you to be would be enough. And then, you even have that whole instant-bondage thing going for you.”
“P-Please…she’s not…” the Changeling whimpered, but Berry simply pressed down harder and ignored him. 
“There are quite a few ponies out there who would appreciate that, let me tell you. Stuck to a bed by their favorite mare, stallion, or even a Princess? Hot stuff. But no. You guys waste that talent by invading us, draining love out of us until there’s nothing left, and then you’re forced to find a new food source. Talk about stupid.” Berry leaned down and looked into the Changeling’s bulging blue eyes just as he had done to her and whispered, “Not that it matters for you anymore. I have a new question for you now. Do you think your eyes will pop out of your skull if I push down hard enough?” 
Berry placed one of her hooves on the creature’s throat and slowly began to press down, watching as its eyes went wider with each passing second. Just a little longer and she’d have the answer to her question.
“No!” a familiar voice shouted. “Stop!” 
“Bon Bon?” Berry asked as she looked up in surprise. Sure enough, the cream colored Earth pony was standing in the doorway, looking better than Berry but still showing signs of wear and tear. 
“Berry, stop! You can’t kill him!” she shouted. 
“Stay back!” Berry shouted, easing up on the Changeling’s throat just enough to allow him to breathe again. This had to be a trick. There was no way Bon Bon would side with the Changeling, not if she knew the truth. If they had killed Minuette, then Lyra’s chances weren’t so good either. “Take one more step, and I crush his throat.”
Bon Bon froze and a confused look crossed her face, but she didn’t move. “Berry, don’t do it. We need him.”
“Need him? Are you bucking kidding me?” she shouted, pressing down again on the creature’s throat, albeit unintentionally.  “Now I know you’re not Bon Bon. Bon Bon would never say that.”
“Berry, it’s me. Honest,” the Earth pony said. She took a small step forward, but Berry stiffened instantly, so Bon Bon froze again. “You have to believe me.”
“Prove it,” Berry said.
“Um…” Bon Bon stood still for a moment and then, despite all the chaos, pain, and destruction they were standing in, a smile came to her face. “You only last ten minutes.”
Berry couldn’t help but let out a sharp laugh. “You know that’s not true.” The grim amusement quickly turned to anger as she remembered the pony who knew that better than anypony else. Tears fell from her eyes as the reality of what she had lost sank in. “Minuette…Minuette knew it too.  But this bastard took her away from me! He took away Pinchy’s Mom. He took away my wife! The one pony who ever loved me despite everything I do, and he took her from me!”
“She’s not—” the Changeling started to say.
“SHUT UP!” Berry pressed down harder on the creature’s throat as tears blurred her vision. 
“Berry, Minuette’s alive. So is Lyra. And Twinkleshine.”
“Liar!” Berry shouted, not taking her eyes off of the Changeling’s struggling form. Just a bit more and he’d be gone. 
“Berry, it’s the truth.” Berry felt a hoof gently touch her shoulder and she flinched. “Their Queen said so.”
“Their Queen?” Berry asked. “You expect me to believe you walked up to this thing’s Queen and she just willingly told you that Minuette is alive? How hard did they hit you?”
Bon Bon rubbed her face. “Well, not exactly. At the wedding, just before it was over, Twilight and I guess the real Princess Cadance showed up. The Queen demanded to know how they got past her bridesmaids. Do you honestly think Twilight and Princess Cadance would have killed them?”
Berry’s hooves were shaking as her mind was overcome with emotion. It wasn’t true. This was just some Changeling trap. It was some last cruel joke they were playing on her. Offering her hope just so they could snatch it away from her. 
“Where are they?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice from cracking with grief. 
“I…I don’t know,” Bon Bon said. “One of the Changelings was feeding on me the entire time. I don’t remember what Twilight or Cadance said.”
“Then how do you know their Queen meant Minuette when she said ‘bridesmaids’? How do you know she wasn’t talking about more of her little freaks?”
“I don’t,” Bon Bon reached down and gently, but firmly, put her hoof on Berry’s hoof, “but it’s the only chance we have. And he’s the only Changeling right now who can tell us where they are.”
Berry looked down at the quivering creature before her. It looked utterly terrified and pathetic. She wanted to crush it like the bug it reminded her so much of, but the chance of seeing Minuette again stayed her hoof. 
“You listen up, because I am only going to say this once. Is she telling the truth?” She removed her hoof just enough so the Changeling could speak.
“Y-Yes. They’re still alive. The Queen didn’t want to waste food.”
“They are not food,” Berry growled. “Now, your next answer determines whether you wake up in agonizing pain, or you don’t wake up at all. Clear?” The Changeling nodded meekly. “Where?”
“She was holding the Princess down in the caves under Canterlot,” the Changeling stammered. “My guess would be that the others are—ugh!”
“Thank you,” Berry said darkly as she pressed down again on the being’s throat. The Changeling flailed and his eyes went wide, silently pleading with her to stop, then they slowly closed and he stopped moving. All it would take would be another few seconds and he would never be a threat to Equestria, or Minuette and Pinchy, ever again…
“Berry…” Bon Bon whispered.
“Her deserves it,” she spat. He deserved to die. He had tried to kill her, had tortured her, and he had threatened her daughter. All it would take would be one more push and he could never do any of those things again.
“Berry, think about Pinchy,” Bon Bon whispered. 
“Fine,” Berry said, releasing the pressure on the Changeling’s throat. She wasn’t a murderer. Killing him in a straight fight was one thing, but executing him was different. She didn’t want her daughter to think of her like that. 
She saw the Changeling’s chest slowly rise and fall and she turned away in disgust. She took two steps and then her legs gave out.
“Berry!” Bon Bon rushed over to help her stand. “We need to get you some help. You look terrible.”
“Thanks,” Berry said as she struggled to stay on her hooves. Her entire body felt like it was on fire. Just standing made it feel like her joints were trying to tear themselves apart. She looked down at her stomach, thankful that the Changelings had patched the wound, even if it had been only to prolong her torture. “You don’t look all that great yourself.” 
Bon Bon rubbed her face again, wincing as she touched what was clearly turning into a black eye. “I’ve been better, but you need—”
“I need a drink.”
“Is now really the best time for that?”
Berry almost snapped at the other Earth pony, but she took a calming breath. Bon Bon was genuinely worried about her, which was a rare thing. She wasn’t used to ponies being concerned about her wellbeing. “Bon Bon, it’s not what you think. Right now, I can barely keep my eyes open, and I still need to find my wife. I need something to dull the pain. So unless you have some candy medicine on you, find me a drink.” 
Bon Bon looked at her dubiously for several seconds. “If you say so…”
“Find the strongest thing that’s still in a bottle,” Berry said. She limped toward the counter and looked at the few remaining bottles. She spied a hard cider and pointed to it. Bon Bon grabbed it and looked for a glass, but Berry simply took the bottle. She drank half of it before setting it back on the counter.
“Better?” 
Berry closed her eyes as the soothing warmth flowed through her body.  All the pain dulled considerably, but it was still there. Now she just felt like she had been in a regular bar brawl instead of a fight for her life. “Much. You might want to take a sip too.”
“I think I’ll pass,” Bon Bon said, looking at the bottle and raising an eyebrow.
“I need to go get Pinchy,” Berry said. She looked over her shoulder at the Changelings sprawled across the tavern. “Deal with these freaks, will you?”
“Berry, I won’t—”
“I mean just tie them up or something. Last thing we need is them causing us more problems.” Berry turned away from the bar and walked toward the bathroom. She reached it and knocked on the door three times, then paused and knocked twice more. 
“I want some wine,” came a familiar, and comforting, voice. Berry smiled at the sound of her daughter. She had used their secret password phrase, just like she was supposed to. Berry’s life had a few…unsavory ponies in it, and after one close call, she, Minuette, and Pinchy had all agreed on a secret greeting whenever Pinchy was alone.
“You’re too young to drink,” she replied. “How about some cider?”
“No,” Pinchy said through the door, and Berry could hear her walking toward the door. “You just said I was too young to drink.”
“You’re right. How about some grape juice?” Berry asked as she finished the last part of the password.
The door flew open and Pinchy ran out, wrapping her forelegs around Berry’s and burying her face in her mother’s fur. The pressure caused Berry some pain, but she didn’t care at the moment. She wrapped her own hoof around her daughter and nuzzled her. 
“Mommy, I…I…” Pinchy said as she tried to bury her face further into Berry’s legs. “You were screaming…”
Berry felt tears come to her eyes and they began to stream down her face. She squeezed her daughter even tighter and had to struggle not to collapse into a blubbering mess. 
“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Berry said as she wiped some of the tears from her eyes. “Your Mommy is a lot tougher than anything those freaks can dish out.”
Pinchy finally pulled out of her hug and looked up, then her eyes went wide. “Mommy, you’re bleeding!” she said as she pointed to the various wounds on Berry. 
“You should see them,” Berry said with a smirk. “Actually, no, forget I said that. I don’t want you to see any of it.”
A groan came from inside the bathroom and Berry reacted instantly. She pushed Pinchy behind her and got ready to jump whoever was in the bathroom. She wasn’t going to let any Changeling lay a single hoof on her daughter.
“Mommy, it’s okay,” Pinchy said from behind her. She wiggled past Berry’s legs and ran back into the bathroom before Berry could stop her. Moments later, she returned, helping a stallion walk out of the room.
“I know you,” he said as he rubbed his head and steadied himself with Pinchy’s help. “You were in here last night.”
Berry blinked as she recognized the bartender. She almost tackled him out of reflex, her mind recalling that he had been a Changeling moments before, but the sight of her daughter helping him calmed her down.
“I found him in the bathroom,” Pinchy said. “He was in this weird green thing and I dug him out.”
“Thanks again, sweetheart,” the bartender said as he patted Pinchy’s head. He then looked up at Berry. “So what’s going on? Last thing I remember is a pony turning into me and then knocking me out.”
“Short version: Canterlot is under attack,” Berry said. “There’s a very real chance that you, me, my daughter, and Bon Bon out there are the only free ponies left.”
“And that’s why you look like you’ve been to Tartarus and back?” he asked. 
“You have no idea,” Berry said. She waved Pinchy over to her and the three for them walked down the hall and back out into dining room. 
“Damn! What happened to my place?” the bartender asked and Berry winced. The damage her fight had caused hadn’t even crossed her mind. Now that she was looking at it without standing in the middle of it, she almost felt sorry for what she had done. 
“Sorry,” she said weakly. “There were a few of them in here.”
The bartender looked around his ruined shop and then looked Berry up and down. “Lady, remind me to never piss you off.”
Berry laughed despite herself and instantly regretted it as the wound in her stomach flared up. She winced in pain and took several deep breaths. She was going to need another shot of that cider soon. 
Bon Bon walked up to them and smiled down at Pinchy. “Hello, Pinchy.”
“Hi, Bon Bon,” Pinchy said. “Are you…you?”
“I’m me,” Bon Bon said. “You’re a very brave little girl. You know that, right?”
“Mommy told me I had to be tough, even though I’m little,” Pinchy said, puffing her chest out with pride. Berry wiped a tear from her eye. 
“Where are the Changelings?” she asked.
“Over there,” Bon Bon said. She pointed to several green cocoons piled in the corner, as well as a single Changeling tied up with rope. He was looking at the four of them silently, his face completely expressionless. “I made him put the others inside cocoons and then tied him up.”
“How did you convince him to do that?” the bartender asked.
“I simply asked him if he wanted me to bring her back out here,” Bon Bon said as she pointed to Berry. “He was more than happy to help after that.” 
“Then maybe he won’t mind telling me how to get to these so-called caves,” Berry said as she started to walk over to the tied up Changeling. He stiffened instantly and tried to make himself smaller as he curled up. 
“We don’t need to ask him,” Bon Bon said as she put a hoof on Berry’s shoulder. “I know how to get to the caves.”
Berry stopped and looked at the candy-making pony. “You do?”
“Yeah,” Bon Bon said as she blushed a little. 
“Pinchy,” Berry turned to her daughter, “Mommy’s going to have to make a very difficult decision right now. I have to go save Mom.”
“I can’t come, can I?” Pinchy said, her ears drooping.
“I wish you could, sweetie,” Berry said. “But…it’s too dangerous. There are Changelings everywhere, and I can’t protect you from them the way I am now. But, I can’t just leave Collie out there. I can’t be worried about you being right behind me while Bon Bon and I are trying to get to her.”
“So…I have to stay here?” she asked, looking up at the bartender.
“I’m afraid so, sweetie. Don’t worry though. He’ll protect you.” Berry looked up at the stallion with pleading eyes. “Right?”
“You have my word,” he said with a nod.
Berry looked back to her daughter. “Don’t worry though. No Changeling is going to mess with both of us. I’ll be back with Mom before you know it, and then you can finally see her in her dress.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” Berry turned to Bon Bon and nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Hold it,” the bartender said. “You two aren’t going back out there looking like that. Let me get some bandages.”
Berry was about to say that they didn’t have time and turned to Bon Bon for support, but when she saw the blood running down the other pony’s leg and flowing from her shoulder, she decided that they could spare a few minutes to patch themselves up.
Five minutes later, with a bandage wrapped around her stomach and back, and a patch taped over the puncture wounds in her neck, Berry was eager to start looking for Minuette. 
Bon Bon had her leg taped up and her shoulder wound wrapped as well and the two of them headed for the door. Berry forced herself not to look back at her daughter for fear that she would not be able to leave her. 
“The Changelings all flew toward the castle a bit ago, so I think we should be okay, but we’ll cut through side streets just to be safe,” Bon Bon said as the two of them walked out of the tavern.
“I’m right behind you,” Berry said as they stepped out into the street.
“Right. Let’s go save our bridesmaids.” 

> Reunited 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The scene in the city was not matching up with the sound coming from the city. The city was in shambles. Craters lined the streets, buildings had holes blown in them, windows were shattered, and smoke was rising from several places. The once gleaming, graceful streets of Canterlot had been utterly decimated by the Changelings, and because of that, the air should have been filled with the sounds of battle. But only the occasional muffled roar of a distant explosion could be heard. There was no clashing of metal, no screams of terror, or even the hissing laughter of the Changelings. It was disturbingly peaceful. 
Bon Bon stuck her head out of the alley and carefully looked around. She found the silence mixed with the destruction to be unnerving, but she understood why it was so quiet. As she gazed about, she saw countless green cocoons, each one no doubt holding a pony prisoner. They littered the streets like weeds, and what made it worse was that some of them were moving as the ponies inside struggled to escape. Most were still though.
Bon Bon pulled her head back into the alley. She didn’t know why the Changelings had suddenly all abandoned the city and flew toward the castle, but she was grateful nonetheless. She knew that she and Berry Punch were in no condition to fight, so if they could avoid the Changelings completely, all the better.
“Okay, it looks clear. We’ll make our way across the street and cut through the back of that café. Ready?” There was no answer. “Berry? Are you ready?”
Bon Bon turned around and gasped. Berry was leaning heavily on a wall. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was labored.  Her bandages were turning red in several spots and she looked like she was about to fall over. Bon Bon rushed to her side and tried to steady her.
“I’m…I’m fine,” Berry said. She pushed herself off the wall and nearly fell over, but Bon Bon caught her. 
“Berry, you shouldn’t be out here,” she said as she looked her friend over. Berry wasn’t looking good, and her bandages seemed to be doing little to slow her bleeding. “Go back to the bar. I can—”
“What? And risk having Minuette…chew me out for sending…somepony else to save her?” Berry said with a forced smile. “I’d…I’d rather…fight the Changelings again.”
“Berry…”
“Look, Bon Bon, I’m not going back. We’ve been over this.”
Bon Bon looked at the bandage around Berry’s neck. “But what about Pinchy?”
“Right now, there are exactly two ponies in this entire city that I trust. You, and that bartender. I know that neither of you are Changelings. And like I said, I’m not about to drag Pinchy through a warzone. She’s safer where she is.”
“But—”
“Enough,” Berry said. “You said we’re cutting through a café, right? Which way?”
Bon Bon looked at Berry one last time and shook her head. She wasn’t going to change her mind. The only thing Bon Bon could do to help her now was to get them to the caves as fast as she could. The sooner they found Lyra, Minuette, and Twinkleshine, the sooner they could try to find Berry some real help. 
“This way.”
Bon Bon began to cross the street, trying to move fast but worrying about her hooves echoing on the stones. She passed several cocoons and tried not to look at the terrified ponies inside. She was thankful that the ones she did glimpse were already unconscious. 
The Earth pony crossed the street and pressed herself against the side of the café’s planter and ducked beneath the bush, then looked back to wave Berry across. She was surprised when she found Berry was right behind her. Either Berry was really good at moving silently, or Bon Bon had been so worried about everything else that she had failed to hear Berry right behind her. 
“How much further?” Berry whispered. 
“We slip through here and then, barring any unwelcome company, it’s just two more blocks,” Bon Bon said as she went over her mental map. 
“But that’s in the middle of the city,” Berry said. “You’re telling me there’s a shortcut to some secret underground caves right in the middle of Canterlot?”
“Unless somepony sealed it up, yes,” Bon Bon replied. “Now stay close. We just need to—”
A loud crash suddenly came from the café’s seating area and both ponies froze. It was immediately followed by the sound of something metal hitting something else and several grunts and cries. 
Both ponies looked at each other and remained perfectly still. The struggle seemed to last forever and it wasn’t until Bon Bon’s lungs started hurting that she realized she’d been holding her breath. As she let the breath out, there was one final clang as something smashed the planter they were hiding behind. 
“Hmph, serves you right,” a voice said.
Bon Bon’s ears straightened and she looked back at Berry. The other pony nodded. That wasn’t the sound of a Changeling’s voice. Carefully, the two ponies stuck their head around the planter. 
Five Changelings were sprawled around the seating area. One of them had a food cart overturned on his body while another was draped across the top of it. That Changeling briefly raised his head and tried to move, but quickly collapsed. The other three weren’t in any better condition. One had been slammed through a wooden table, breaking it into pieces. Another was simply passed out on the ground, but showed no real wounds. The final one was actually smashed against the other side of the planter Bon Bon and Berry had been hiding behind. He had hit it so hard that the stone had cracked and dirt was slowly falling on his head. 
And in the middle of the chaos stood a grey pony with a charcoal mane. She was brushing her shoulder with her hoof. Her gaze fell on a shattered cup and she sighed. 
Bon Bon was so entranced by what she was looking at that she didn’t realize she was walking forward until she stepped on a piece of silverware. 
The grey Earth pony whipped her head up and dropped into a crouching stance. Her purple eyes narrowed as she looked at Bon Bon. “Do not think that I will hesitate simply because you have changed your form, Changeling.”
“What? No, I’m not—”
“Easy there, sweetheart, we’re not like them,” Berry said as she came around the corner and joined Bon Bon. “You think these bandages are for show?”
“Yes,” the grey pony said. “And if they are not, you are making a mistake. Those other five were not injured when they attacked me, and they did not fair well. You will fair worse.”
“Easy, Octavia, it’s us,” Bon Bon said. “I promise.”
Octavia blinked once and relaxed. “Hello, Bon Bon. I…do not believe I know your companion.”
“Wait, you trust us now?” Berry asked. “Just like that?”
“I did not tell you my name,” Octavia said. “A Changeling would not know it after just crossing paths with me. But allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Octavia Melody.” She bowed in a very Canterlot fashion. 
“Berry Punch,” Berry replied. “So…you thrashed all of these freaks by yourself.”
“Thrashed?” Octavia asked. “Oh, yes. I suppose I did give them a good...beating.”
Bon Bon looked at Octavia in shock. Her mane was still perfectly styled, she didn’t have any cuts or bruises, and she wasn’t even breathing hard. If five unconscious Changelings weren’t surrounding her, Bon Bon would not have believed Octavia had been in a fight.
“But…how?” she asked. “I mean, I only fought one and barely survived, and Berry’s going to have some nasty scars, but you…look fine.”
“Yeah,” Berry said. “I mean, no offense, but you Canterlot types aren’t usually this hooves-on when it comes to fighting.”
Octavia’s ears went flat and she looked at the ground. “Well, um…my mother made sure I learned certain skills.”
“Like how to beat the stuffing out of Changelings?” Berry asked. She walked over to the one that had been slammed into the planter. She poked his face with her hoof and then flicked his nose. “Because damn girl.” 
“She said a Melody must always know how to defend herself,” Octavia replied, looking at the ground with colored cheeks. “Um…promise you will not tell anypony else about this?”
“Sure,” Bon Bon said, still trying to figure out how a pony like Octavia had done with ease something that had nearly killed Bon Bon and Berry. “Does Vinyl know?”
“Vinyl!” Octavia’s head whipped up and her eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh! Have you seen her?”
“That your marefriend?” Berry asked with a smirk. “I bet a lot of stallions wish they were her…”
“What? No!” Octavia said, her ears drooping a little. “She is just, um…”
“Uh-huh.”
“The last time I saw her was back at the castle,” Bon Bon said. “She was complaining about setting up her equipment.” 
“Thank you,” Octavia said. “I need to go make sure she is okay. Because…um…” She blushed again. 
“We’re actually going to save Lyra right now,” Bon Bon said with an understanding smile. 
“And Minuette,” Berry added. “And Twinkleshine. Don’t suppose you’d want to come with us? We could use a pony of your skills.”
“Well, um…thank you for the compliment, but I, uh…”
“Relax sweetheart. I was only teasing. Go save your marefriend.”
“She is not—” Octavia closed her mouth and took a deep breath. “Thank you.”
“Octavia,” Bon Bon said as the cellist turned to leave. “I, uh, think you should know. All of the Changelings suddenly took off toward the castle. There’s a very real chance that a literal army is standing between you and Vinyl. And that…Vinyl may have already been captured.” 
Octavia did not turn around to look at Bon Bon. “It does not matter,” she whispered.
“Damn right it doesn’t,” Berry said.
“Thank you again,” Octavia said and then she took off running.
“I like her,” Berry said as Octavia rounded the corner and vanished from sight. “She’s got fire.”
“Yeah…” Bon Bon said. She had a newfound respect for the grey mare. She still didn’t like that Lyra hung out with her so much, but she felt the last of her worries about losing her Unicorn fade away. Octavia was about to brave an army to save the pony she loved—whether she admitted it or not—and she didn’t care. She was just like Bon Bon in a way.
“Ah, that’s some good wine.”
“What?” Bon Bon looked over and saw that Berry was draining a bottle. She drank the rest of the wine and set the bottle down on one of the few remaining tables.  She shook her head and smiled. 
“What are we waiting for?” she asked. “I don’t know how long this buzz is going to stay. I can still feel the pain even now, so we better get moving.”
“Er, right,” Bon Bon said. She watched Berry take a few steps. She seemed sturdy enough, so Bon Bon didn’t press the issue. “This way.” 
The two ponies left the café and continued through the eerily silent city. They did not cross paths with any other ponies, nor did they run into any Changelings. Bon Bon would have actually found the city enjoyable right then if it wasn’t on the verge of collapse. It was usually so busy and full of stuck-up ponies that she and Lyra rarely had a chance to enjoy the place. 
Bon Bon stopped in front of two of the most rundown buildings in Canterlot. Their windows were boarded up and the door was missing from one of them while the other had a chain across it.  Why the ugly buildings were still standing in the midst of Canterlot’s splendor was something that Bon Bon had always wondered about, and the thought again crossed her mind as she gazed up at them.
“What a dump,” Berry said as she joined Bon Bon. “I’d ask if we’re in the right place, but there’s no way coming here was a mistake. Are we going inside?”
“No,” Bon Bon said.
“Good, because that place looks more dangerous than the Changelings.”
“We’re going back here.” Bon Bon walked down the narrow gap between the two buildings, sidestepping boxes and crates full of junk and then ducking under a busted fence. She looked around until she spied a pallet with several crates stacked on top of it. She walked over to it and pushed the crates off. Some of them broke when they fell and the noise echoed off of the buildings.
“Careful!” Berry hissed as she looked around. “If those Changelings find us again, we’re beyond screwed.”
“Sorry,” Bon Bon whispered as she pushed the last crate off of the pallet. “We…I mean, I haven’t been down here in over ten years.”
“What is this, exactly?” Berry asked as she watchd Bon Bon work.
“I’m not sure,” Bon Bon said as she pushed the pallet aside to reveal a metal grate in the ground. She flipped it open, cringing as it squeaked loudly, and then looked into the hole. “Lyra said these buildings used to be mining facilities, and I guess this is where they brought some of the crystals up from the caves.”
“Hm…” Berry said as she too looked down the hole. “And Lyra knows that…why?”
“Because she’s Lyra,” Bon Bon said. “She knows a lot of hidden history it seems, and I’ve learned to just accept it.” She spied the ladder and turned around to begin climbing down. She gingerly put one hoof one the top rung, and when it didn’t snap she pressed down a little harder. The metal still held. Taking a deep breath, she climbed down another few rungs.
“Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, bring a torch or something?” Berry asked as she raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’re hiding a Unicorn horn under those curls.”
“I’m not, but we’ll be fine.” Bon Bon would have pushed her hair back to prove her point, but she was too terrified to let go of the ladder. This was always the worst part of the trip for her. The ladder, in all the years she had used it, had never once failed her, and Lyra had always promised to catch her, but nothing ever managed to calm her fear. Even now, she was so scared of the ladder snapping away from the wall and plunging her into darkness that she was finding it hard to move her hooves.
Relax. You’ve done this before. Besides, Lyra’s down there. She needs you. Bon Bon focused on the second half of that thought and forced her hooves to move her down. She let out a little shriek when the ladder vibrated and she heard a clanging sound, but as she wrapped her forelegs around a rung she realized it was just Berry finally getting on. 
A few eternal seconds later, Bon Bon felt her back hoof touch solid ground. She slid off the ladder and struggled to stay standing. Her legs felt like jelly, like they always did whenever she finally got off that ladder, and she noticed that her breathing was shallow. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, and then peered into the darkness. She was really missing Lyra right now. She always had an illumination spell going at this point, and while the light from the hole was comforting, it wasn’t nearly enough to light the way. 
Berry slid off the ladder and looked around. “This place is huge,” she said. “How are we going to find them down here?” 
“Thankfully this is just a side passage. We just need to follow it and it spills out into the main cavern.” Bon Bon started walking, hoping that her memory served her well enough to know the way. And hoping that Berry wouldn’t ask the obvious question. 
“Okay, and once we get there, where do we go?”
So much for that hope. 
“I…I don’t know,” Bon Bon said as she walked into the darkness. “Lyra and I only ever explored the main cavern, but I remember there are countless side tunnels. But at least…” Bon Bon put her hoof out, trying to find the wall. She felt cold stone and jagged rock at first, but as she slowly moved her hoof around, she eventually felt something cool and smooth. She smiled in the dark, pulled her hoof back, and then hit the wall. There was a cracking sound and suddenly the entire tunnel lit up with a welcoming green light. 
“How did you do that?” Berry asked as she stared at the ceiling. Bon Bon couldn’t help but think that, with her blood-stained bandages and the green light, that she looked like a zombie pony. It was slightly unnerving. 
“Vibrating crystals,” Bon Bon said as she turned back to look at the one she had hit. It had several cracks radiating out from where she had struck it. “You hit one and it turns the energy into light, and that energy then gets transmitted into the other crystals, causing them to light up as well.”
“Cool,” Berry said. “But…I think we need to skip the rock lessons. I’m…starting to get…a bit lightheaded again. Should have…grabbed another bottle.”
Bon Bon looked at the other Earth pony. Berry was trying to put on a brave face, but even in the green light Bon Bon could see that she was losing color in her face. And there was no way she’d be able to carry Berry back up the ladder. They needed to find the three Unicorns now, because if Berry passed out down here, there would nothing Bon Bon could do for her.
“Then we’d better hurry,” she said. 
The two ponies walked down the green-lit passage in relative silence, with only the sounds of their echoing hooves and Bon Bon occasionally hitting another crystal to break the silence. Bon Bon couldn’t help but notice that Berry’s breathing was becoming more labored and her pace was growing more and more uneven. She desperately wanted to move faster, but she worried that any more stress on her friend would push her over the edge.
That, and Bon Bon was still in pain herself, and she had no idea where to start looking once they reached the main cave. She was trying to put that thought out of her mind, but the longer they were in the tunnel, the more the thought grew. She was starting to quietly panic when the crystals began to dim again. She reached out to hit another one, but Berry reached out and stopped her. Bon Bon turned to ask what she was doing, but Berry put her hoof to her lips and shook her head. Curious, Bon Bon tilted her head and perked her ears as high as she could. 
At first all Bon Bon heard was deafening silence, and as the light from the crystals began to fade, panic rose in her. Her heartbeat began to pound in her head, drowning out any hope of hearing anything else. She wanted to reach out and hit the crystal, and she almost did, but then she felt Berry’s hoof gently touch her shoulder. The panic subsided instantly and she was able to hear clearly again.
Bon Bon wasn’t sure what she was hearing when the noise finally reached her ears. It sounded like falling rock, but she was also hearing noises that didn’t fit. It sounded like somepony was…dragging something across the floor? She cocked her head to the side and then nearly jumped when she heard a growl. There wasn’t anything alive in these passages. She and Lyra had made sure of that. But then, they hadn’t been down here in years. It was entirely possible that something had moved into these caves and was now looking for food.
Another faint growl came up the passage followed by what sounded like a muffled growl. Bon Bon was still trying to figure out what she was hearing—and whether or not she and Berry should turn around—when Berry shot past her down the tunnel. Bon Bon was so surprised to see her move so quickly that she almost lost sight of her in the dark before she hit a nearby crystal to light up the tunnel again.
“Berry! Wait!” she shouted, but the Earth pony didn’t slow down.  Worried that her friend was about to be eaten by some monstrous cave creature, she took off after her, doing her best not to trip on the uneven floor.
Bon Bon reached the end of the tunnel and came to a halt as she almost plowed into the back of Berry. They had reached the main cave, and even though her body was aching from the short run and she was pretty sure she had reopened one of her wounds, she couldn’t help but stare at her surroundings. 
The cave was still breathtaking even years later. Blue and green crystals covered the walls and ceilings, reflecting the small amount of light a million times over. Stars seemed to be within reach as the light was broken into countless fragments, and the silence made it feel as if Bon Bon was standing outside on a beautiful night, gazing up at the sky. All she needed was Lyra to be standing—or better yet, laying—next to her and everything would be perfect, just like it always was when they came down here. 
“Let…GO!” a voice shouted. It echoed through the entire cavern and Bon Bon jumped. She thought it was Berry, but she noticed that the mare was standing perfectly still except for her ears, which were flicking back and forth slowly. 
“It’s mine!” another voice screamed, followed by what sounded like a grunt. 
“I want it!” another voice yelled, and Bon Bon immediately recognized that one.
“Lyra?” she called into the cavern. “Lyra, is that you?”
“Shush!” Berry said as she covered Bon Bon’s mouth. “The sound echoes too much. I’m trying to figure out where they are.”
“How did you know it was them?” Bon Bon whispered. She desperately wanted to go charging into the cavern in search of Lyra, but Berry was right. The way their voices were echoing, it was impossible to tell where exactly they were. 
“I remember very well what Minuette sounds like when she’s struggling and has something in her mouth,” Berry said. 
“Oh.” Bon Bon blushed. 
“I said it’s mine!” There was a flash of light off to the right and Bon Bon and Berry both looked toward it. They looked at each other once, nodded, and then began running toward the flash. They dodged around several big crystals and both of them stumbled a few times, but neither one of them slowed. What they had been searching for was so close that nothing else mattered.
Bon Bon rounded a rather big rock and skidded to a stop. A half-second later she felt Berry crash into her back and the two of them tumbled to the ground. 
“Ow…” Berry said as she lay on top of Bon Bon. “Why the buck did you stop?” Bon Bon simply pointed with her hoof and Berry fell silent. 
Lyra, Minuette, and Twinkleshine were standing in front of them.  They were dressed in their bridesmaids dresses, but the outfits were in tatters. All three mares’ manes were a complete mess. The flowers in their headdresses were crumpled and scattered around the cave floor. Their coats were smudged and covered in dirt, and all three of their horns were glowing brightly with magic as they glared at each other.
And in the middle of them, clutched in Minuette’s teeth with Lyra and Twinkleshine trying to pull it out, was what had probably once been a bouquet of flowers. Now though, it looked like nothing more than torn fabric wrapped around broken stems. 
“Lyra?” Bon Bon asked as she tried to figure out what she seeing. She tried to get up, but Berry was still laying on top of her.
“Minuette, what the hay are you doing?” Berry demanded as she stood up. Bon Bon winced as the Earth pony accidently pressed down on her wounded shoulder, but once Berry was off of her, she stood up too.  “Pinchy’s been dying to see you in that dress, and I find you down here rolling in the dirt? Without me I might add.”
In creepy unison, all three Unicorns turned to look at the two Earth ponies and Bon Bon felt her heart skip a beat. Lyra’s beautiful sunglow eyes were gone, replaced by two tiny green eyes that pulsated in the cavern’s dim light. Her eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth turned up in a sneer. She slowly started walking toward Bon Bon, losing all interest in the bouquet she had been fighting over.
“That ain’t right,” Berry said as Minuette and Twinkleshine, both with the same green eyes, began to follow Lyra. “Any ideas, Bon Bon?”
“Um…Lyra?” Bon Bon said as she and Berry slowly began to back away from the three Unicorns. This wasn’t fair. She and Berry had been through so much already, and now they were going to have to fight the very ponies they had come to rescue? There had to be another way. “Lyra, it’s me. Bon Bon. You…you remember me, right?”
The three Unicorns simply growled and drew closer.
“Minuette, you better snap out of this right now, or Celestia help me…” Berry warned, but Bon Bon noticed that she was still backing up just as quickly.
The two ponies suddenly backed into a wall. Bon Bon looked over her shoulder for an escape route, but there was nothing. She turned back to see that the Unicorns had cut them off from any other means of escape. Lyra’s green eyes glared at her and she felt her heart begin to sink. 
“Lyra, please,” she whispered as she pressed herself against the wall. “It’s me. Your marefriend. Don’t you remember me?”
Lyra paused for a moment, or at least Bon Bon thought she did, and she felt a glimmer of hope return. 
“That’s right,” she continued, trying to smile despite her fear. “You remember me, right? You remember this place too, don’t you? You used to drag me down here when we were little. You said we were looking for human arty-facts.” Bon Bon smiled as she remembered the way Lyra used to say the word. “We came down here so many times that I lost count. I was always so scared of going down that ladder, but you always promised to catch me if I fell.” 
This time Lyra did stop, as did Minuette and Twinkleshine. She tilted her head to the side slightly, but the grin on her face did not waver. 
“Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it,” Berry whispered. 
“You…you showed me how to light up those crystals,” Bon Bon said as she took a small step toward Lyra. “It was so pretty the first time you showed me. Remember? And…and this is the same place where I…I…” Bon Bon swallowed and looked at Berry, “I asked you to…to go out with me. You remember that, right?”
Lyra blinked and shook her head. It looked like whatever was controlling her was starting to break, but the green in her eyes was still there. 
Bon Bon felt her eyes water as she cautiously closed the remaining distance between herself and Lyra. “And…you remember how you answered, right? You just stared at me for a long time. I…I thought you were going to say no, and I was so scared that I’d ruined our friendship, but then,” Bon Bon reached out and gently stroked Lyra’s cheek, “you…Lyra, this is where we had our first real kiss. You remember all of that, right? You remember your…Sweetie Drops.”
The green light from Lyra’s eyes faded. She closed them and shook her head. She started to fall and Bon Bon caught her. She opened her eyes and Bon Bon smiled when she saw that they were back to their beautiful color.
“Uh…hi, Sweetie Drops,” Lyra whispered in a sleepy voice. “You feel so warm…” She closed her eyes and tried to nuzzle her way further into Bon Bon’s embrace, but then her eyes snapped open and she stood up. “The wedding! Bon Bon, it’s a trap! That’s not Princess Cadance! She’s—”
“Shush,” Bon Bon said as she put a hoof on Lyra’s mouth. “We know.”
“I hope you don’t expect any of that mushy stuff from me, Collie,” Berry said. “Now snap out of it!”
Berry Punch stomped up to Minuette and glared at her. Minuette recoiled slightly. Berry raised her hoof and slapped the Unicorn across the face. Minuette opened her mouth, either to say something or just hiss, but she never got the chance. 
Berry pressed her mouth against Minuette’s and wrapped her forelegs around the Unicorn’s neck. She held her in the kiss despite Minuette’s initial struggle, but then the Unicorn relaxed and her eyes closed. She then wrapped her own forelegs around Berry’s neck and leaned into the kiss.
The two ponies continued to kiss until Bon Bon felt she should look away. 
“How come you never kiss me like that?” Lyra whispered. Bon Bon reached down and covered Lyra’s eyes with her hoof. 
When Bon Bon heard the familiar sound of lips coming apart, she finally removed her hoof from Lyra’s eyes and looked back at Berry and Minuette. 
“Um…” Minuette said sheepishly as she and Berry continued to hold each other. “Hi, Berry. Good to see you too.”
“Oh, it’s going to get better,” Berry whispered. She leaned in and gently licked Minuette’s ear. “Trust me.”
Minuette’s cheeks went bright red, even in the dim cavern light. She looked around and her eyes feel on Bon Bon and Lyra and she with stiff. She scrambled out of Berry’s embrace and tripped as she did. 
“Er…how much of that did you two see?” she asked as she lay on the ground.
“Enough to be jealous, I’m sure,” Berry said as she walked over and helped Minuette stand up. 
“Uh-huh,” Minuette said, her ears flat and her eyes focused solely on the ground. 
“What do we do about Twinkleshine?” Bon Bon asked, both as a way to save Minuette and because she had no idea how to help the final Unicorn. Twinkleshine hadn’t moved from her spot, but her eyes were still green. 
“I could kiss her,” Berry offered suggestively. 
“Not like that you’re not!” Minuette said instantly as she glared at her wife, then she quickly put her hoof over her mouth. Berry simply looked at her and grinned. 
“We can’t just leave her down here like this,” Bon Bon said. 
“Hm…I wonder.” Lyra looked around the cave until she spotted the ruined bouquet. She grabbed it with her magic and waved it in front of Twinkleshine. “Here you go, Twinkelshine. It’s all yours.” 
“Lyra, that’s not going to—” Bon Bon stopped short when Twinkleshine’s green eyes lit up in joy and she dove on the ruined flowers. She picked them up with her hooves and hugged them, and then her eyes returned to their blue shade. She looked around the cavern and then stared at the other ponies.
“So…is anypony going to tell me what’s going on, or is this as awkward as I think it is?” she asked.
Bon Bon looked at Lyra in disbelief. “How did you…? You mean all we had to do was just let each one of you hold that bouquet?!”
Lyra shrugged. “I dunno. It was just a guess. And besides, your way was much better.”
“I liked my version more,” Berry said as she nuzzled up to Minuette, who was still beat red in the cheeks. 
“Will somepony please tell me why we’re all underground, I’m holding…whatever this is, three of us are dressed in wedding attire, and the other two look like they’ve been fighting a war?” Twinkleshine shouted as she dropped the ruined bouquet on the floor and kicked it. 
Bon Bon had no idea where to begin. Even though it had only been a few hours, it felt like she and Berry had been fighting and running for years. She was about to start at the beginning, but a familiar voice interrupted her.
“Thank goodness you girls are all okay!” All five ponies turned toward the new voice and saw Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle and her friends, Princess Celestia, and what looked like half of the Royal Guard. Princess Cadance began walking toward them, relief flooding her face. “I was so worried about all of—”
“Back off!” Berry growled. She placed herself between Princess Cadance and Bon Bon and lowered her head as if she meant to charge. 
Princess Cadance stopped. “Berry, what are you—?”
“Nice try, but I’m not buying it,” Berry said, scraping the floor with her hoof. “You take one more step, and I swear I’ll tear you in half.”
Bon Bon carefully walked up next to Berry. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Berry, if this is about Twilight and I leaving Minuette and the others down here, I apologize, but we didn’t have a choice,” Princess Cadance pleaded. “We had to get to the wedding as fast as we could.”
“Yeah,” Twilight said as she walked up next to Princess Cadance. “We were going to come back for them. In fact, we did come back for them. That’s why we’re here.”
“No way,” Berry said. “I did not go through all of this and nearly die just so a bunch of Changelings could trick us again.”
“You think we’re Changelings?” Rainbow Dash shouted. 
“Those Changelings are long gone, sugar cube,” Applejack said as she grabbed Rainbow’s tail to stop her from charging forward. “Twilight’s brother blasted them out of Canterlot right quick.”
“A likely story,” Berry said. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? You could all be Changelings sent down here to capture us.”
“Why in Equestria would the Changelings send this many ponies to capture you five?” Rainbow Dash demanded as she waved at all the ponies standing behind her.
“I kicked the snot out of a bunch of you all by myself,” Berry countered. “Maybe one of you made it back and warned the others.”
“Are you kidding me?” Rainbow shouted.
“She certainly argues like Rainbow,” Bon Bon said. “Berry, I don’t think they’re Changelings. If they were, they could have easily overpowered us.”
Berry turned and looked and Bon Bon.  “Do you want to take that chance? Those freaks can literally take the shape of any pony we know. And we already know that Princess Cadenza here was one of them all along. So ask yourself, Bon Bon. Ask yourself if you’re willing to risk Lyra, and everything you went through to get her back, just because a bunch of ponies suddenly show right when we need them to. Because I’m not buying it.”
Bon Bon opened her mouth, but she closed it again when she saw the look in Berry’s eyes. They were filled with despair and anger. The Earth pony looked like she was about to pass out. Bon Bon looked her over and saw that her bandages had gone dark with fresh blood and her legs were quivering. 
“Berry, we need to—” Bon Bon started
“I can prove it,” Princess Cadance said as she raised her chin and struck her most regal pose. “Everypony else, leave us.”
“But, Princess Cadance!” Twilight protested.
“Princess Cadance knows what she’s doing,” Princess Celestia said. 
“Don’t worry about her, Twily,” Shining Armor said. “Cadance can take care of herself. We’ll meet you back at the entrance, sweetheart.”
“Okay,” Princess Cadance said as she watched all the other ponies leave. Once they were gone, she turned back to the remaining ponies and smiled. 
“I’m…waiting,” Berry said, and Bon Bon noticed that the shaking had moved from her legs to her entire body. 
“You came to pick up Minuette at my Bachelorette party,” Princess Cadance said. 
“So? For all I know, you could be some Changeling who just saw me on the street carrying her.”
“You carried me?” Minuette whispered in shock. 
“Lyra was passed out under the table and Minuette was…shall we just say she was having a good time?” Princess Cadance asked with a smile. The blue Unicorn chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her neck. 
“Everypony at that nightclub knows that,” Berry said, but Bon Bon could see that she was lowering her guard. “That show was hard to miss.”
“Thanks a lot,” Minuette grumbled.
“Right, but only the real me would know about this,” Princess Cadance said as she stepped forward. “We had our own private room first, right girls?”
“Uh…yeah,” Twinkleshine said as she looked nervously at Lyra and Minuette. “O-Okay, Berry. This is Cadance. Trust me.”
“It’s where I gave each one of them a glass of Princess Celestia’s special drink.”
Bon Bon looked at Lyra and noticed that the Unicorn had gone utterly silent and had a panicked look in her eyes. Minuette didn’t appear to be doing much better. 
“Okay, Cadance, we get it, it’s you,” Lyra said quickly. “Come on, it’s time to go.”
“Berry, you saw what happened to Minuette, Lyra, and Twinkleshine, right?” Princess Cadance continued.
“Yeah,” Berry replied. “I almost wanted to ask you—I mean, Princess Cadance, what that recipe was. I’ve never seen Minuette get that drunk.”
“Well, you saw them after the drink had thinned out in their blood for an hour,” Princess Cadance said. “When they first drank it, Minuette and Lyra—”
“Ooookay, time to go!” Minuette said as she ran forward and shoved her hoof in Princess Cadance’s mouth. “Berry, you can trust me when I say that this is genuinely, one-hundred-percent Princess Cadance. Now can we please get out of here?”
Princess Cadance looked at Minuette and Bon Bon knew the Alicorn was teasing both her and Lyra. She moved the Unicorn’s hoof away from her mouth and looked at Berry. “Well?”
“If Minuette says you’re you, then I’m…I’m…” 
Berry staggered forward a pace and then collapsed on the floor. 
“Berry?” Minuette cried as she ran over to her wife. “Berry! She’s not moving! Berry, please, get up. Don’t do this to me!” 
Minuette collapsed on the ground and shook her wife. Bon Bon stood next to Lyra in silence, too terrified to move. She felt Lyra’s hoof wrap around her shoulder and that snapped her out of her shock. She rushed forward and knelt next to her friend.
“Put her on my back,” she said as she looked at Minuette. The blue Unicorn just stared at her in tears. “Now!”


*                                                  *                                                  *


Berry Punch felt warm and comfortable. She could feel her mind slowly pulling its way back from unconsciousness and she struggled to stop it, but it was already too late. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself gazing at an unfamiliar ceiling. 
The first thought that went through her head was that she had spent another night having way too much to drink and was now sleeping it off in some random pony’s bed, but she quickly brushed that aside. She was happily married to the best Unicorn in world, and she wouldn’t trade her for anypony. Besides, she had just gone through a literal nightmare to get her—
“Minuette!” Berry cried as she sat up in the bed. She instantly regretted the decision as the injuries she had suffered sprang painfully back into her thoughts.
“Sssh,” a soothing voice said as a hoof gently pushed Berry back down onto the bed. “It’s okay. I’m right here.”
Berry looked to her right and saw a beautiful Unicorn was a tousled blue and white mane gazing back at her from the side of the bed. She smiled brightly and Berry knew that she was seeing the real Minuette. No illusion or Changeling could fake that smile. 
“Where am I?” Berry asked as she looked around. This certainly wasn’t their hotel room. The place was nice, but it wasn’t this nice. There were plush pillows, beautiful drapes, dazzling paintings, and a window with a balcony that would have made even Filthy Rich envious. 
“Canterlot Castle, in a private guest room,” Minuette said as she crawled into the bed and sat down next to Berry. “Princess Cadance insisted that we bring you here after the doctors looked you over.”
“Nothing too bad I take it, since I’m here and not there.”
“Nothing that some stiches and rest won’t fix. It was mostly exhaustion, but your injuries weren’t exactly minor.” Minuette’s expression grew serious as she looked down at Berry. “But that was extremely dangerous of you, Berry. If I had known what shape you were in, I would never have let you stand up to Princess Cadance like that. I would have dragged you to the hospital right away. If you had died, what was I supposed to tell Pinchy? She would have been heartbroken.”
Berry smiled. “Missed you too,” she said and Minuette’s expression softened again. “Where is Pinchy anyway? Is she safe?”
“After I assured her that you just needed some rest, she went off to play with Applejack’s little sister and her friends. I think she’s helping them get ready for the wedding later tonight. So you better rest up too, because we’re going to it.”
“What—ugh. What about Bon Bon and Lyra?” Berry asked. “Are they okay?”
“Yes, they’re both fine. Probably spending so nice quiet time together. Bon Bon made me promise to tell her the moment you came around though.”
“How do I know this isn’t just some Changeling trap?” Berry asked as she blinked slowly. “How do I know you’re not just telling me what I want to hear and—mmph!”
“Believe me now?” Minuette asked as she pulled out of the kiss. 
“I don’t know…”
Minuette playfully punched Berry in the stomach. The Earth pony winced, not entirely faking it, and looked up at her wife with puppy dog eyes. “That hurt.”
“Well, Bon Bon told me that you smacked me to get me out from under that spell, so consider us even.”
Berry’s ears fell and she looked away from Minuette. “Collie, I…I’m sorry.” 
“What in Equestria do you have to apologize for, babe?” Minuette asked as she reached out and made Berry look her in the eye. 
“Bon Bon told Lyra all this stuff to snap her out of it,” Berry said. “And I…I couldn’t. I couldn’t think of a single thing to say to you besides I love you.”
“Well, what’s wrong with that?” Minuette asked.
Berry rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. Bon Bon gives this huge romantic speech and manages to overpower a Changeling’s spell, and I’m supposed to follow up with, ‘Hey, Collie, I think you’re great. I love your flank. Come back so I can tap—mmph!”
Minuette pulled out of the kiss and looked down at Berrry with tears in her blue eyes. “You want to know something? If you had tried anything like what Bon Bon did, I probably still wouldn’t be free from that spell. Do you know why?”
“Um…because I suck at that sort of thing?” Berry offered.
Minuette blinked and tears fell from her eyes as she laughed. “Not how I would have put it, but yes. It wouldn’t have been you. I love you for being Berry Punch. The Berry I know doesn’t talk about her love for me. She shows it. If you had tried to give me a boring speech about how you I give you butterflies and all that mushy stuff—”
“You remember me saying that?”
“Vaguely. But if you had tried that, I would have thought you were a Changeling. That kiss was something that only you could give me, and only you can give it to me that well.” Minuette slid across the bed then and straddled her body over Berry’s. “Speaking of that kiss…”
“Um, I thought the doctor said…I…needed to…rest…” Minuette gently kissed Berry again. Berry felt the Unicorn’s tongue slip into her mouth and slide around, until she gently pressed it against the roof of Berry’s mouth. Finally, she pulled out of the kiss and licked her lips. 
“Okay, the wine taste I can understand,” Minuette said as she sat on top of Berry with her forelegs crossed. “But why am I tasting syrup too?”
“Uh…heh heh,” Berry said as she scratched the back of her neck. “Well, you see, I needed something to—”
“Save it, Berry,” Minuette said with a smile. “Pinchy already sold you out for a glimpse at me in my dress.”
“That girl is in so much trouble,” Berry replied, trying to look irritated but finding it extremely difficult as she kept looking at the pony sitting on top of her. 
“Not as much trouble as you’re in for letting her have that much sugar without brushing her teeth.”
“So what was Princess Cadance trying to say back there in the cave?” Berry asked. She wiggled slightly under Minuette and grinned when she saw her wife squirm. 
“Oh, um…nothing,” Minuette said. She tried to readjust her position on top of Berry, but the Earth pony wiggled again and Minuette quivered. 
“Tell me,” Berry said as she adjusted her leg so that the bed sheet brushed Minuette between her back legs. 
The Unicorn visibly shook, but shook her head. “It’s nothing, honest.” 
“I can always ask Lyra,” Berry said. She jerked her leg and Minuette gasped and leaned forward. 
“Okay, fine,” the Unicorn said as she looked Berry in the eye. “Lyra and I may have…made out, slightly, after we had our drinks.”
“Hot!” Berry said, then she grinned. “ Wait a second. You mean you got to make out with another mare, but you wouldn’t let me kiss Twinkleshine to save her life?”
“We didn’t know what we were doing,” Minuette said as blushed. “I barely remember it.”
Berry pushed her leg up slightly and Minuette gasped and fell forward. “Promise?” she asked as her Unicorn fell on top of her. “We can always call Lyra in here if you do want to remember it. In fact, I like the sound of that. Let’s go get her.”
“N-No,” Minuette whispered into Berry’s ear as she placed her hoof squarely on Berry’s chest. “I’m…happy like this…”
“Well, too bad,” Berry said as she pushed Minuette up. “You said that the doctor said I needed rest. You even told me to rest. So you’ll have to go find Lyra if you want anything. Who knows? Maybe you can even get Bon Bon to join in.”
“Berry…” Minuette whined. She bounced up and down like a child and batted her eyes. “You’re teasing me.”
“Nope, sorry,” Berry said. She turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. “Doctor’s orders.”
“What if I promise to be…very gentle…?” Minuette leaned forward and kissed Berry’s neck, sending shivers down her spine. 
“I…I don’t…normally…do gentle…” Berry whispered as Minuette continued to kiss her neck and move down to her chest. 
“Make an exception,” Minuette whispered. “This is your punishment for Pinchy’s breakfast.”
“Hm…okay.”
Minuette’s horn glowed pink and Berry heard the sound of the door locking. The Unicorn smiled and Berry reached up and pulled her wife down into a kiss. 
“Hey, Minuette? You in there?” Lyra asked as there was a knock on the door. 
Minuette groaned and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Lyra.”
“Is Berry awake yet?” Bon Bon asked through the door.
“She’s…resting,” Minuette called, trying to be patient. Berry grinned up at her and moved her leg again. Minuette glared down at her and shuddered. 
“Is she at least awake? It’s been two hours. She should be—”
“I’m fine, Bon Bon,” Berry said finally. She teased her wife again and Minuette nearly collapsed on her.
“Oh. Thank Celestia. Are you feeling okay?”
“I said she’s resting,” Minuette growled. 
“Riiiight. Resting,” Berry said. “I need lots of rest.” Then she added in a whisper, "You know, we can invite them in if you miss Lyra..."
“And I’m giving it to her—I mean, you’re disturbing us. I mean her rest!” Minuette said as she glared playfully at Berry.
“I think what my wife is trying to say is go away,” Berry said as she leaned up and gently bit her Unicorn’s blue neck. 
Minuette couldn’t take it anymore. She collapsed on top of Berry and stayed still, breathing heavily against her fur and smiling. “Yes, please.”
There was a long silence at the door and Berry couldn’t help but smile as she pictured Bon Bon’s face. No doubt she was turning all short of pinks and reds. She almost wanted to get up and open the door just to see it. Almost.
“O-Oh,” Bon Bon said. “Um…excuse us. We’ll, uh, see you at the wedding then?”
“Get better soon, Berry,” Lyra shouted. “Get lots of…rest. Ow! What was that for? Hey! Bon Bon, let go! That hurts! Where are you…”
The voices drifted away away and Minuette sighed. “That ruined the mood,” she said. 
“Oh, I think I can get you back in the mood right quick.”
“The wedding is this evening, so we’ve got a few hours,” Minuette whispered as she rested in Berry’s embrace. She was still shaking, but she managed to smile and kiss Berry’s cheek.
“Plenty of time,” Berry replied. She gently bit down on Minuette’s ear and allowed herself to become lost in the moment. 
	
>  Wedding (epilogue) 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Bon Bon sat at the table in the evening air and watched the celebration as she sipped her wine. The bride and groom had just left the reception, but the music was still playing and ponies were still partying. If it weren’t for the bandages and a few bruises that she and Berry were still sporting, it would have been impossible to tell that the entire city had been under attack just hours earlier.
“You know something I don’t get?” Berry said as she drained another glass of wine. She looked at Octavia and raised an eyebrow. “How in Equestria did Vinyl end up in charge of the music? Canterlot is not her scene at all.”
“I was wondering that too,” Bon Bon said. Both ponies looked to the grey mare sitting at the table with them.
“Vinyl has always been a fan of Shining Armor,” Octavia said. She looked over her shoulder at the Unicorn who was still spinning records and pumping music into the air at the other end of the party. “She says she got her cutie mark at one of his shows, so naturally she begged me to ask him for her. She wanted me to use my connections to get her the performance.”
“Shining Armor had a band?” Berry asked. 
“Who knew?” Bon Bon said and both mares started laughing because of the wine. 
“I can’t believe she did that,” Minuette said as she and Lyra came over to the table. “I’m so sorry, Lyra.”
“Yeah, guess the Element of Generosity was on vacation or something,” Lyra replied as the two mares walked up. Both of them were in brand new bridesmaids dresses and had their manes restyled. Bon Bon smiled. The sight of Lyra in her dress made everything worth it to her. 
“Mom!” Pinchy yelled as she appeared out of the crowd. She ran toward Minuette and threw her hooves around her. “You do look like a princess!”
“Pinchy…” Berry warned. 
“Oops. I mean you look better than a princess.”
“Thank you, sweetie,” Minuette said as she rubbed Pinchy’s head. “But you’re still in trouble for eating that syrup for breakfast.”
“Aw,” Pinchy whined, but her frown instantly disappeared when she spied a slice of cake on the table.
“Mind if we join you fine ladies?” Lyra asked as sat down next to Bon Bon. She used her magic to raise the bottle of wine and refilled Bon Bon’s glass. 
“After everything we’ve been through, you two better join us,” Berry said. Minuette sat down next to her and the Earth pony pulled her closer while Pinchy continued to happily eat her cake. “Where’s Twinkleshine?”
“Oh, she’s fighting off stallions with a stick over there,” Lyra said. She pointed to the Unicorn and sure enough, Twinkleshine was surrounded by stallions. “They keep asking her to dance, since they found out Minuette and I are already taken.”
“Dancing does sound nice,” Minuette said. She stopped Berry from taking another sip from her wine glass and pulled her away from the table.
“Whoa, hold on there,” Berry said. “You heard the doctor. I need rest.”
“Funny. You didn’t seem to need rest earlier,” Minuette replied as she dragged Berry away. “Pinchy, there’s more cake over at the buffet table. Why don’t you go get an extra big slice?” Pinchy’s eyes went wide and she bolted away. Minuette looked back at Lyra and Bon Bon and winked. 
“Um, Octavia?” Lyra said. “Vinyl said she um…wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Really?” Octavia said. She looked over her shoulder at the D.J. “She seems to be rather busy at the moment. I am sure it is not urgent.”
“Um, no, she said it was really important. Please.”
Octavia’s eyes went wide with understanding. “Oh, I see. I had best go speak with her then.” The cellist stood up and quickly made her way away from the table. 
“Lyra, what did you do?” Bon Bon asked as the two of them sat alone at the table.
“What? I didn’t do anything,” the Unicorn said. She slipped her hoof around Bon Bon’s neck and pulled her close. “At least, not yet.”
“Uh huh,” Bon Bon replied. “If you’re about to shove cake in my face or something like that, you’ll regret it.”
“Um…no, not cake. It’s nothing that messy.” Lyra scratched the back of her neck and looked up at the sky. “Well, actually, it’s probably messier than cake. At least, that’s what I’ve heard. Minuette said so.”
“Lyra, whatever you’re planning, stop. I’ve had enough excitement for today.” Bon Bon rested her head on Lyra’s shoulder and closed her eyes. “I just want to sit here like this, with you.”
“Well, um, you see, I can’t stop. I already spent a lot of bits on it.”
Bon Bon pulled away from Lyra’s shoulder and glared at her. “Are you telling me that you paid somepony to shove cake in my face at the wedding?”
“It’s not cake!” Lyra protested. “Ugh. This would have been so much easier if Rarity hadn’t pushed me out of the way. Just…close your eyes, okay?”
“Lyra, if you think I’m going to—”
“Please, Sweetie Drops?”
Bon Bon blinked in surprise. Lyra never used her real name unless it was important. It had taken Bon Bon years to work up the courage to tell Lyra it in the first place, and she had threatened the Unicorn with bodily harm if Lyra ever dared to make fun of her or use it against her. 
“Okay…” she said slowly. She closed her eyes and braced herself. She was expecting something cold to be dumped on her, or feel frosting being shoved up her nose, and she was already planning how she would get even with her marefriend. But when nothing happened, she grew anxious. “Lyra? Are you still there?”
“Um…Sweetie Drops? I, uh…”
Bon Bon made a face even with her eyes closed. “What if somepony overhears you?” 
“Right, sorry. But, um…I need to ask you something. Something important. You can open your eyes now.”
Bon Bon opened one of her eyes half way and looked at Lyra, still expecting some sort of attack. The Unicorn was huddled next to her and her left ear was flopping back and forth. Whatever she had to ask, it was really troubling her. Bon Bon was about to ask what it was when a box floated up in front of her, held by Lyra’s cream-colored magic. 
Bon Bon’s breath caught in her throat.
“I really wanted to catch that bouquet,” Lyra said as she scratch the back of her neck again and looked down at the ground. “I thought it would have helped the moment. A lot. But, um…I didn’t, so…I’m afraid this is all I could do.” Lyra took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and opened the box. “W-Will you…m-marry me? Please?”
Bon Bon stared at the ring in the box. It was simple band of gold with a sapphire and an emerald placed next to each other at the top. They were craved to look like they were wrapping around each other and Bon Bon couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. Tears began to build in her eyes and she struggled to remember how to breathe. 
“Um…Sweetie Drops? I-I mean, Bon Bon?” Lyra asked nervously. “You’re making your girl kind of nervous with the silence. I-I can go steal that bouquet from Rarity, i-i-if that will, um…help you.”
Bon Bon pushed the box gently aside and set it on the table. Lyra’s eyes went wide with horror as she looked at it. They darted back to Bon Bon and began to water. The Unicorn’s ears fell completely flat and her mouth hung open. She just sat there in shock, on the verge of becoming a complete wreck, until Bon Bon leaned forward and kissed her. Fiercely.
“Now you know how I felt when I asked you out,” she whispered as she put her forehead against Lyra’s and gazed into her eyes.
“So…that’s a yes?” Lyra asked, her cheeks completely red. “I wanted to wait until after Princess Cadance and Shining Armor left, because I didn’t want to intrude on their ceremony, but I’ve been trying to find the right—”
Bon Bon smiled and put her hoof on Lyra’s lips. “It’s a yes.”
“Um, great,” Lyra said as her face turned a shade of red that Bon Bon didn’t think was possible. 
“Aw, aren’t you two sweet?” a voice teased. Bon Bon and Lyra both jumped and knocked their heads together, then turned to see Berry sitting back at their table with a huge smile on her face. 
“Sorry, Lyra,” Minuette said as she sat down next to Berry. “I tried, but apparently the only dancing Berry knows isn’t…appropriate for this type of party.”
“That’s not true,” Berry said. “I just haven’t had enough to drink yet. Or nopony else has.”
Minuette rolled her eyes and poured her wife another glass of wine, then looked at Lyra with beaming eyes. “So what did she say?”
“You knew?” Bon Bon asked. 
“Yeah,” Lyra answered. “I asked her for advice.”
“And what did you say, Bon Bon?” Minuette asked, her eyes turning to her now.
Bon Bon blushed and snuggled next to Lyra. “Yes, of course.”
“Great!” Berry said as she set her glass down. “So when’s the wedding? It’s not going to be as…exciting as this one, right?”
Bon Bon laughed. “I hope not, but my Maid of Honor tends to be a bit wild, so I can’t promise anything.”
“Really? Sounds like my kind of—” Berry stopped when she realized that Bon Bon was staring right at her. She blinked several times. “You…you’re joking, right? Me?”
“Is that a problem?” Bon Bon asked.
“Yes,” Berry replied instantly. “I-I mean, I’d love to, but…”
“But what?”
“Come on, Bon Bon. You know me. I’m…I’m, well, me. I not exactly anypony’s first pick for something that important.”
“You’re right, you’re you,” Bon Bon said. “I thought I knew you. A pony who drinks too much and spends all of her life curled up in a bottle.”
“Yeah,” Berry said as her ears fell. “That.”
“But I was wrong. You’re one of the greatest ponies I’ve ever met. You risked your life for those you love. You’re brave, loving, and a great fighter too. There’s no pony more fitting of the title Maid of Honor that I know.”
“Really?” Berry whispered. “Even though I’m—”
“Now you stop right there,” Minuette said as she gave her wife a hug. “Everything Bon Bon said is true. I know it, Pinchy knows it, and it’s time you learned it too. If you’re not everypony’s top pick, then it’s their loss.”
“Well, Berry? It would mean a great deal to me if you would,” Bon Bon said.
“Sure,” Berry replied, wiping a tear from her eye. “I mean, I would be honored.”
“Can I be in the wedding too?” Pinchy asked as she popped her head in between Minuette and Berry. “I didn’t get to be in this one.”
“Of course you can, Pinchy,” Bon Bon said as she looked at Lyra. The Unicorn smiled and nodded. “You can be the flower girl. How does that sound?” 
“Yay!” Pinchy said as she took another big bite of her cake.