Cadance excused herself to go settle into a guest room for herself, leaving Twilight and the others behind. Twilight let out a slow breath before nodding at each of her three potential wives. "I'm going to say something, and I know it will sound cruel, but it's the truth as I feel it, and I need you to respect that, alright?"

Hesitant nods were her answer, and Twilight made an odd gesture, breathing in and out once with her hoof guiding the motion. "I don't want to be married."

Silver sank a little, but nodded. Fast looked much more irate, thumping the table lightly. "That's your choice, of course, but why? I thought we agreed?"

Twilight shook her head, "I... thought, a lot of things. Now that the pressure is let out, I know I'm not ready for this." She slipped from her seat and moved around. Without warning or prompting, she hugged Silver from behind. "I still want to be your friend, a very special friend, but no marriage..."

Night pushed her glasses back up with a fidget. "Only a twenty percent chance..."

Silver was a little limp in Twilight's grip. All the words that came to her felt tawdry, bitter, or just inappropriate, so she ended up saying nothing. She started when she felt Twilight nuzzle her. Silver reached out, pulling Twilight close, "I... really want it to work."

Night extended a wing, slipping it between Silver and Twilight. "Stop right there. If she doesn't want it, she doesn't. We learn from our lessons, right?"

Silver shrank away, nodding. Twilight glanced at Night with some confusion before she gave an 'oh' and gently brushed aside the wing. "There's no power involved in this. No centuries of life separating us. I'm just not... ready. I'm immature, and I admit that. I'm not ready to be a wife, or to go through the wringer that would come with being part of such... an amazing herd."

Fast chuckled softly as she rose up to full height. "That was a tactful way of putting it. My offer to be the acting stallion still stands. We don't have to be an all-mare herd."

Twilight shook her head and stepped away from Silver. "I will not ask you to sacrifice who you are for my benefit."

Fast's expression turned into a scowl as she clopped a hoof on the ground. "Buck your benefit! Silver is the one I care about. I'll be a stallion forever if I can get life to stop toying with her heart."

Cadance wandered back in, pausing dead in her tracks. She looked to Silver's quiet tears, Fast's furious expression, Night's stoic look, and Twilight's almost helpless befuddlement. "What did I miss?"

Night pointed at Twilight. "Twilight has decided she is not ready for marriage."

Cadance gave a slow nod. "I see... Well nopony is going to force Twilight to do such an important thing before she's ready. Twilight, do come here." Cadance led Twilight away, shielding her in a large, pink wing.

Fast raised her hoof high as it swelled in size and brought it down like a hammer, only drawing back at the last moment with barely restrained fury. "Celestia take it all! I thought we were settling down. I thought she loved us..."

Silver nodded slowly, eyes closed. "She does. She's afraid. I don't blame her."

Night took a moment to adjust her glasses as she looked over Silver and Fast. "You don't blame many ponies. If you found her in the embrace of another pony, you would likely blame yourself first." She slid to her hooves. "We are still a herd, and have each other, whether or not Princess Twilight Sparkle decides to stoop down to join us or not."

Fast bobbled her head. "Yeah, we don't need her!" Suddenly Fast was quite much like Twilight Sparkle, leaning in towards Silver. "Nothing a little role-play can't fix..."

Silver shivered softly at the sight and sound of a sultry Twilight. Even the smell was right. But she knew it wasn't the real Twilight. But it was Fast Change, and she was a fine mare too. Silver leaned in and kissed the faux-Twilight on the lips, and soon they had fallen over, faux-Twilight holding up Silver as she lay on her back.

A polite cough brought their attention to Cadance standing in the doorway. "As... interesting as it is to watch a doppleganger of dear Twilight enjoying a moment of passion, could I speak to you all?"

Fast guided Silver up to her hooves before becoming her usual unicorn self. "Of course, Cadance. You always have our ear."

Cadance smiled a little wistfully. "I wish I was the bearer of good news, but Twilight is closing up hard. She's seen the way out and she's hit the ground running. Her assessment was quite accurate, she's being immature. She obviously loves you all, and loves being around you... She's just afraid to handle everything that comes with it."

Night nodded lightly before pointing at Cadance. "Do you have a suggested course of action?"

Cadance tapped at her chin, "I can think of several... She told me about your aborted time out together. I do think you should do one of those, without the interruption. I could... cheat a little. She has love for you all, it could be enhanced. She may realize love is more important than her short-term fears, or it may drive the poor dear into fits. I'm wary of pulling out that sledgehammer of a solution."

Fast suddenly smiled. "You are the princess of relationships. We are humble commoners before you. Save us from our folly and we will follow your guidance faithfully."

Cadance looked to Silver pointedly. "What of you? What are your thoughts?"

Silver sagged a little. "I shouldn't have pushed into her life so hard in the first place. She, er... her destiny is already filled. I bet she's supposed to meet a nice stallion that isn't a human at some point, and I'll just be in the way of that."

Fast snorted loudly, "That's a huge load of dung. We're not in your visions anymore, Silver. We make destiny, not live it."

Silver pointed off towards the map room. "Twilight lives destiny. She believes in it, and so do her friends. Who am I to decide it's a bunch of nonsense, especially when it involves her love life? I mean I saw it work! I watched history play out."

Cadance half-lidded her eyes as she approached Silver. "Alright, then let's take this logically. Fate is real, you've witnessed it. Correct?"

Silver nodded at her.

"Nothing can turn fate aside, so far you have seen?"

Silver shook her head.

"Then you can't really mess it up, can you? If you aren't meant to be, then no force will change that, unless you're saying you can change destiny. And if you can change it, it's not really destiny, is it?" Cadance looked smugly satisfied with her reasoning.

Silver flopped onto her haunches. "Well... no, I suppose not. I still don't want to force Twilight. I've been forced enough times to know it sucks balls."

Cadance frowned. "Language. We will not force Twilight. She is my sister-in-law. I wouldn't dream of forcing her, but I do think she's being... rash. This isn't like Luna. Tell me, when you're with her, does she lord her status over you? Do you feel inferior?"

Fast shook her head. "No way. In fact, she's usually overwhelmed by me. She doesn't use titles unless we're in public, and even then she doesn't try to give out orders. I've only seen her do that in emergencies, and that's cool."

Night nodded in agreement as she pointed at Silver. "She's still getting used to being a princess, and prefers being treated like a pony first and any titles after that, which is fine by me. When she's looking at Silver, it's with fondness and confusion, but never superiority. Sometimes she even seems jealous."

Silver hesitantly joined in the agreement, settling on one of the chairs instead of the floor. "Twilight, after our rocky start, has treated me like a friend, and sometimes as a lover, never as a princess."

Cadance watched their lines. Speaking of Twilight thickened the ones that trailed upwards towards her. "It's not too late. I do think we can work past this."

Silver raised a hoof. "What if we just keep it a secret? Then she doe--"

Night shook her head quickly. "Nope, scratch that thought right out. We were doing that before. Secrets get out. If we want to do it, we have to do it right."

Fast rocked back and forth a moment before she clopped her hooves together. "We should treat Twilight like a princess, I mean, romantically. We should give her a day of just being pampered, carefree, and happy."

Cadance smiled gently. "I don't see anything wrong with that idea. I can't promise it will shake her fears, but you could all enjoy it." She let out her breath slowly. "There is another thing you can do, but it's risky."

Silver tilted her head in curiosity as she shuffled her hooves. "What would that be?"

"You can formally announce your courting of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Fast blinked, but Night seemed to grasp the picture faster. "Oh! I see... Then we'd be in the spotlight either way, and Twilight's decision to proceed has nothing to do with the attention, since it's already here."

Cadance nodded slowly. "It would mean you would all become very famous, very quickly. You will be followed, pestered, and possibly mocked for your... unconventional... herd grouping. Some will blast you for trying to 'corrupt' Twilight. Some may even attack directly, financially, verbally, or even physically. You will take a lot of heat, but that's half the point."

Fast nodded and moved to sit beside Night. "We can handle a few naysayers. Besides, offer's still open."

Silver perked an ear at Fast, then blinked as she leaned forward. "Wait. Fast. Honest time. Do you want to be our stallion?"

Fast wobbled a hoof. "Maaaaybe?"

"You keep offering, and I don't... think you're hesitating."

Night nodded in agreement. "If you want to be our stallion, you should say that, instead of offering it."

Fast huffed, shuffling in place. "Watching you two get all fat is... hot, OK? I want to put a foal in those ovens, but I don't want to get fat myself." She tapped at her chin a moment before continuing, "We should... talk, work out a perfect stallion for you both."

Silver snorted. "None of that. You're a perfectly lovely pony as you are. You can be a male-you, but I won't have a custom-ordered stallion. I love Fast Change."

Fast moved over to Silver and they shared a soft nuzzle as Fast became a stallion version of herself, growing in mass and musculature. Fast bit at Silver's closest ear. "You're lucky there's a princess watching."

Cadance cleared her throat softly. "Yes! Well, are we in agreement then?"

Author's Notes:

Cadance has some serious chat with the herd. What will come of their new plan, besides typos?