If maybe in an alternate universe...
It all happened when she was standing beneath the frame of the door, looking all regal and majestic as she smoothly preened the feathers from her wings.
Wings in Canterlot were rare apart from my mentor Princess Celestia herself. The town that I lived and grew up in was always full of snobbish unicorns in which I didn't feel like I could fit or blend in. But that didn't matter to what I'm currently thinking about. That soft yellow, purple, and pink candy colors in her mane shined brilliantly as well as her amiable smile.
There she was. Being introduced to me as my soon-to-be foal sitter. As giddy as I had sounded, something else within me had pulled at the beauty she wore, the melodic voice she addressed herself in.
She pulled out a foreleg so I could put forth my own as a sign that we will be the best of friends.
And so I did.
I had a feeling that she and I will be getting along splendidly.
And which we did.
Ever since my brother, Shining Armour, had started training to be a royal guard for Princess Celestia, he had been too busy to play with me or Spike, the dragon that I hatched for my entrance exam to said Princess Celestia's school of gifted unicorns, and I entered in as her personal protege!
Anyways, Mum and Dad were also busy looking after me as Dad was a literal astronomer and my Mum was always by his side; not like she's never on mine or my brother's side.
But I had to insist on them for me to get to spend some quality time with this Cadence.
She was the best foal sitter in the history of foal sitters!
Spike agreed, too.
And what was cool was that the both of us created our very own friendship chant. It went something like...
''Sunshine, sunshine''
While also jogging on the spot at the same time.
''Ladybugs awake!''
Despite ladybugs frightening me to what Shining had told me about them, we still decided to put that into our chant. When we got back up from the ground, we got our hooves away from our eyes.
''Clap your hooves''
Then we put our hooves together, clapping them.
And last but not least...
''And do a little shake''
We wiggled our tails at each other before falling to the ground, expressing affectionate laughter and hugging each other as another sign of our friendship.
I took a look at her face, examined it, and couldn't help but stare. Stare at the masterpiece that her parents created—and yes, she told me where foals had come from since my parents or brother couldn't do it themselves, and to tell the truth, it wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be.
I asked her, ''can mares do it with mares too?''
She laughed, however, brushing back my bangs as she nuzzled up against me and, oh, just how soft she was.
She told me that, ''only stallions and mares can do it with each other, Twily. But it is possible for a mare and a mare or a stallion and a stallion to like each other. However, if she or he has a sexual desire with the same gender as her or him, then I suppose she or he could have a sperm slash egg donation.''
It was so fascinating, I had to write it all down. But not just that, my heart suddenly started beating as ever because I was being told that it's normal for two mares to like each other by Cadence nonetheless.
I wanted to ask her if she liked mares but I refrained to do so. Wouldn't it make it awkward?
But from then on, Cadence had been at our family reunions such as for Hearth's Warming, Nightmare Night, Hearts and Hooves Day, and so on, and I was more than thrilled on having her join.
For Nightmare Night, I had the same costume for every year in which Cadence and I would get mad at Spike for not knowing who Starswirl the Bearded is, and so I slammed a book about him at Spike's head, forcing him to read it, through all of it.
I don't think he read it, though. He never does. But I try to stay calm with that gesture Cadence had shown me.
For Hearts and Hooves Day, I've learned that this occasion was for couples, friends, and family. Me not having a crush or friends, I decided to give cards to my family and Cadence was practically family.
One year, it was different.
One year, I gave her a card. It had sparkling pink, purple, and yellow glitter to match the colors in her mane with a drawing of her and me on the cover. Inside, I've written a big jumbo paragraph telling her how grateful I am to have such a great foal sitter and she gave me a tender kiss on the forehead.
When she did and turned away because my brother wanted to give her a card, my heart was beating and beating, faster than it ever did before. But then I saw them. I saw her pecking a kiss on my brother's lips. It was like a dagger had shot through my beating heart.
I didn't know what the problem was with me. But I learned that kissing on the lips meant a sign of romantic tension and that's what my foal sitter and brother did. I got so sick, I hurried to my bedroom, locked the door, and just sat there, not moving to myself as I let the tears stream down my cheeks.
I didn't know what was going on. Why was this happening to me?
From then on, I started focusing on my studies for Celestia's school but it was just so, so hard to focus, to just merely simply focus. It took me a couple of years to forget about her as Celestia sent me off to Ponyville with Spike to make some friends.
As much as I didn't want to go as the introvert bookworm I am, Spike convinced me to go, telling me it would ease the heartbreak I went through at a young age.
I sent him a glare that would quiet him down during the ride there for making me remember that witch again, but then my eyes also melted. What had he meant by heartbreak? Surely I wasn't in love with her, was I?
Anyways, when we got there, we met five friends: Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, and they were such lovely friends. We faced obstacles along the way during my years staying in Ponyville when I insisted to Celestia that I couldn't leave them after what we did to unanticipatedly get her sister back.
Celestia obliged, telling me it was best to not see her again. My eyes widened. So everyone knew but me, huh? That I was in love with that she-demon!
Now, now, Twilight. Cadence is your friend.
But a part of me could still bear to see her again.
But then we eventually met. Celestia sent me a letter through Spike telling me that I, with the help of my Ponyville friends, will plan a wedding for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and my brother.
I was first like, ''who the heck is this weirdo fucking with my brother?''
But then when we headed off to Canterlot, me having some explaining to do on why my brother didn't tell me this sooner and face-to-face, he explained and eventually told me that, hey, guess what, that fucking Mi Amore Cadenza Is Cadence, my old foal sitter.
While I was relieved his soon-to-be wife wasn't some chick, I also felt a few of my heartstrings pulled. Oh, so now he's going to marry her and I'm going to plan a fucking wedding for my brother and my crush?
After years of being in denial, I finally realized that, yes, I was in love with her.
But after my reminiscing over her, I bumped into her. Cadence. Still so beautiful as always, I got back up and happily greeted her while also doing our chant.
Cadence merely looked at me as if I was crazy. ''What are you doing?'' was her only response to me. Did she not remember me? She walked right past me and had my brother wrap a forehoof around her.
Shining probably had told her of my feelings so that's why she was acting like a fucking high and mighty bitch.
''Back off, Twily. You know Cadence is mine,'' younger Shining Armour had told me, supposedly teasingly but came out in the wrong way for me.
Then I saw her being rude to every one of my friends and I was beginning to feel suspicious. Maybe that fake-ass personality she wore a few years back was all an act to get everyone to like her before backstabbing us?
There's no way Shining would marry that witch! And there's no way I should still be in love with her!
So at the practice wedding, I intentionally arrived late, confronting them that ''she's evil!'' which caused everyone — even the guards who would always be emotionless — to have shocked responses.
But then I felt bad on the inside while still wearing that proud smile that she was thankfully gone. I bumped into my brother who wore a serious look, telling me that all of this was because she was too stressed about the wedding that she was unable to acknowledge me for the first time in forever or my friends for the first time with a proper attitude.
My head hung downwards, trying to explain had he not kept rambling on and on. I stayed silent until they all began leaving me to myself, thinking that what I had done was uncharacteristically unnecessary.
Then I felt a hoof caress me on the back, glancing up to see her face.
I whispered, ''I'm sorry,'' before green flames started circling me. I gasped. I knew she was trouble!
When the green fire started covering me whole, I found myself in a cavern, igniting a glow to my horn for illuminance around the place to squint in the dark to see.
She was everywhere, laughing and mocking and telling me that she'll do something bad to my brother. I exploded magic beams at her reflections until I crashed a wall and saw her in a distressed, messy mane state.
She shouted out, ''wait!'' before I jumped myself at her, almost ready to kill her as she tried explaining how there was an imposter until I heard her mumble out my name. My eyes melted. She remembered me.
''You remember me!'' I cried out, hugging her as she accepted back.
''Of course, I do. How could I forget the pony I love to sit for the most?''
A small smile appeared on my lips before I caught a twinkle in the distance, pulling away from the embrace.
I told her we had to get out of here and stop this witch. She conceded with a determined nod of her head and followed me through the cavern, finding a moving platform that could only fit one pony. She was struggling to move it so I levitated her and placed her in, moving her all the way down the tracks.
When the moving platform fell, I thought my life was over, dying with her while in the process of saving my brother and her soon-to-be husband. But I held onto her hind leg as she splayed her wings apart, flying us to a small chunk of land where I saw a distant hole in the ceiling until we found three unicorns possessed.
And now I thought we were really done until Cadence used her intelligence once again, getting out a bouquet and throwing it far, far away so the possessed bridesmaids could catch and fight for it to get them distracted.
I looked at Cadence who gave me a smirk and started going through the hole.
I was so close, so close. My brother was officially about to marry that witch had I not slammed the doors open and shouted out for them to ''STOP!''
Despite everyone mumbling out of annoyance including my traitor friends, I heard the witch say, ''ugh, why does she get to be so possessive of her brother?'' while having Celestia look at her in disbelief before breaking out into a few fake petty cries.
That ended whatsoever when the real Cadence stepped forward next to me and told them that it wasn't the witch's special day, it was hers.
I was like ''yes, go queen'' in my head while the other part of me wished it was me in my brother's position.
The witch was so angry that her plan had failed, transforming herself into the real her: a changeling queen, just like Cadence had explained.
She creepily and slowly stepped towards Cadence until I stepped in front of her to protect her, giving her an assuring smile. Chrysalis, I think her name was, had a major horn battle with my mentor in which I thought she was going to win but it was that witch, pushing her to the ground as her crown fell.
I shouted out her name and ran towards her along with my friends as everyone looked at her in complete and utter disbelief and shock.
As the changeling was impressed and explained aloud how she was more powerful than my mentor because of her draining my brother's powers, Celestia weakly told me to go find the elements of harmony along with my friends to defeat the queen with them.
I turned to my friends as we all nodded our heads in determination, ditching our dresses in the air and galloping out the door until that stupid Rarity slowed us down by catching them, we called out, ''Rarity!''
When Rarity caught up with us, there were so many changeling drones all launching at us but we managed to dodge them but there were too many of them. We all eventually reached a halt while taking exasperated breaths where they were in the form of me and my friends.
So some of us tried tricking them while also launching them with magic and Pinkie's party cannon.
We soon finally made it to the vault where Celestia had kept the elements of harmony until we found out the room was packed with other changelings blocking our path. We cowered and surrendered as they blocked our view and took us back to the place where we were at.
We saw Celestia enveloped in a green sticky substance hung from the ceiling as well as my brother in his possessed state and my crush standing next to him, her hooves being stuck in the same substance as my mentor.
I was about to trot towards her and save her had the changeling queen not stand in front of us, blocking our path. I grumbled under my breath. What a way to save your crush, Twilight.
The changeling queen told her subjects who were guarding in pursuit to go feed on the other ponies' love that they had captured, standing by the window and singing her stupid song again but this time no collaboration with my crush because who would want to sing with that bitch?
So I took this as an opportunity to trot up to my soon-to-be sister-in-law and, as much as I hated this, my brother and her love were strong so I told her to go to him while she still had the chance.
I saw her hugging my brother as she caressed his cheek, examining his possessed state. Their horns met, materializing a floating heart above them making him snap out of his trance.
While we were all happy, the queen suddenly was alert and stood her ground before us. I hurriedly told my brother and my crush to perform their spell as the queen rambled on and on. The two of them stood defiant as my brother began to panic and process everything.
''My love will give you strength,'' was Cadence's statement that broke my heart that it wasn't directing it to me. She hugged him again and this time created a glow to her horn as my brother joined his horn with hers, sending them to hover gently above the ground before us.
The cold gush of air swiftly went past me and my friends as we prepared for the ultimate defeat. Both of their eyes flashed white as a strong magic wave washed over all of us only affecting those who didn't belong here, sending all the changelings back to wherever they came from including their master before my brother and Cadence landed on the ground again, staring into each other's eyes and manes flowing swiftly and gently.
While we were all happy everything went back in order, I was happy that my brother and Cadence were happy but also upset at the same time that her special somepony wasn't me.
My ears pinned back until my mentor approached me. ''You have a real wedding to put together.''
I smiled and the next thing I knew I was levitating a checklist in front of me as my crush, or shall I more positively say now, soon-to-be sister-in-law gleefully tasting an apple fritter that my friend Applejack had made a batch just for the occasion. I also ticked off her trying out the wedding gown that Rarity had made for her while also dancing with Pinkie Pie.
And now it was finally time. The time when I get to say goodbye to my crush and hello to my new sister-in-law.
The doors had opened and there she was, my sister-in-law all dressed up beautifully in that dress Rarity had created for her with part of her dress longing behind as the cutie mark crusaders were gleefully hopping behind her as well as throwing away petals to the side from their baskets down the aisle.
I nudged my brother as I readjusted his armor. I had to ask him, ''I get why the queen of the changelings wanted to be with you but how did you get someone as amazing as Cadence to marry you?''
I just hoped my comment didn't come off on the wrong hoof.
''I told her she wouldn't just be gaining a husband, she would be getting a pretty great sister too,'' he answered back, which wasn't what I was expecting. I smiled back at him as I watched my crush walk down the aisle and approach us to marry my brother.
When Celestia had begun her speech, all I could do was look at how regal she looked with those soft, tender eyes she had and the smile she always used to wear during the time I knew her but this one was even happier. I looked at my brother and her as they kissed.
I was just happy she had someone that would make her happy.
I would've objected to this wedding and confessed my love for her instead but I could never do that to my brother and knowing how much they had truly loved each other and made each other happy, I watched them walk off into the sunset.
Perhaps, if only, in another universe, we were truly meant to be?