Second Thoughts

by Poinger

First published 22nd of May, 2015

The Royal Wedding is fast approaching, but Cadence isn't all too sure she wants to get married...

The Royal Wedding is fast approaching, but Cadence isn't all too sure she wants to get married...

---

A 3 year old story I've had kicking around, but never completed, based on the Finale for season 2. Be warned, it gets a fair bit... odd. Chapter three is abbreviated so I don't have to type out the whole friggin episode and you don't have to read through it.

Chapter 1

Shining Armor held open the door to his quarters. “So? What’dya think? Not too bad, huh?

Cadence smiled as she followed him in. Though her own quarters were a bit more luxurious, his captain’s quarters felt more rustic, more cozy. “They’re nice.”

A dark grey unicorn porter followed her in with their bags, setting them down next to the door. She nodded graciously and he bowed, backing out slowly and shutting the door discreetly.

Shining Armor took their bags up into the bedroom, while she took some time to examine the living room a bit more, inspecting the various military antiquities. When she entered the bedroom, he had set the bags down and was starting to remove his armor. His face was plastered with an excited grin. “I can’t believe it. We’re finally getting married! Only ten days!”

Cadence felt a sick jolt in her stomach at the reminder. Was it really so soon? “Yes, ten days till we’re... married.” She tried to mirror his excitement, but despite her best efforts it came out half-hearted.

Her lack of enthusiasm was not lost on him. He paused, and gave her a concerned look. “Are you all right?”

She didn’t answer at first and began to fiddle with her one of her bags. She so desperately wanted to shout “No! I’m not all right!” But she knew she couldn’t. She stopped her fiddling and forced a smile to her face. “Everything’s fine. I’m just tired: I had a busy day today.”

She was afraid he wouldn’t buy it, but he nodded and continued to unpack his things. “I understand. It’s just... you’ve been different lately, love. You just don’t seem, I don’t know... more stressed, maybe. More tense. There’s nothing wrong with the wedding plans, is there?”

Everything is wrong with them, she thought. I’m not sure they should even exist! The whole wedding could be a mistake! She gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I told you, I’m fine. Just a bit nervous, I guess.” She finished her unpacking and began divesting herself of her royal garb.

He nodded, but he still appeared concerned. He shut the closet door and walked into the bathroom. He came back out a short time later, the armor’s dark impressions in his coat gone. “Sorry I can’t stay a bit longer, but Princess Celestia asked me to come and visit her as soon as we got unpacked; something about a possible security issue. It’s probably best not to keep her waiting too long after sunset before I head over there. You want to come along? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

She shook her head. “No, I think I’ll retire early. Like I said, I’m pretty tired, and we’ve got a busy day—busy week, rather— ahead of us.”

He nodded. He walked over toward her, but she walked past him to flop down on the bed. He stood there awkwardly for a bit before continuing to the door. “I’ll see you later, then, dear. Love you.”

“I... I’ll see you later, dear.” She pulled herself under the covers.

He stood waiting in the doorway a bit longer, then left, closing the door softly behind him.

She let out a long sigh, staring up at the ceiling. What was wrong with her? She was a bride-to-be. Wasn’t she supposed to be happy? She didn’t feel happy. All she felt was dread. She was getting married in less than a week, but she couldn’t even tell her fiancé she loved him. Every time she tried, she just felt sick. It was all so backwards.

Maybe she had made a mistake. Maybe Shining Armor wasn’t the stallion for her. She shook her head. No, they’d had something real, hadn’t they? Even after what she’d done?

Yes. Yes, it must have been real. It must have been. He loved her dearly, she knew that for sure.

She sighed. So why couldn’t she manage to convince herself that she loved him back?

Tormented by her thoughts, Cadence slowly drifted to sleep.

Chapter 2

Author's Notes:

Episode elements are abbreviated.

It was too chilly. She should really talk to Shining about it. She didn’t want to sound impertinent, but this was ridiculous. She started fumbling around for the blankets. Sheesh, even the bed was uncomfortable. It hadn’t been this hard and lumpy when she went to sleep...

She stopped reaching for the sheets and opened her eyes wide as her sleepy brain finally put everything together. This clearly wasn’t the bedroom. It looked like a cave, one with large, flat crystals that shone like mirrors strewn everywhere.

She tried to quell the rising panic. Somepony must have taken her from her apartments. She’d been kidnapped! She lurched to her feet and trotted over to the wall, looking for an exit. She started trotting faster, eventually breaking into a gallop as she searched along the wall. Nothing.

She shot into the air, rapidly searching the walls for an opening, a crack, anything! But there was nothing. She had just landed, panting, when her reflection in a nearby crystal rippled and gained a sickly green tint.

At first she thought it was still her reflection, that perhaps the crystal was just a different color. But as she looked closer, she saw her face just looked so angry, so cold. It just couldn’t be her reflection. She raised a hoof, hesitantly reaching out toward the mirror...

“Ah, so you’re finally awake. Good.” The image spoke, causing her to jump.

“Who are you? Where am I? Why have you kidnapped me?”

The face rippled with green energy, changing into a horrible, insectile parody of a pony’s, all dark chitin with a long, membranous mane and a smile full of sharp teeth. “I am Queen Chrysalis, Queen of the Changleings, and soon to be Queen of Equestria.” She gave Cadence a nasty smile and her image flared with energy again as she retook her alicorn disguise.

“Your friends call me Cadence. As to ‘kidnapping’ you... well, it seems you’re no longer invited to the wedding. Turns out that there’s some other mare- well, changeling, that has, shall we say, ‘stolen his heart.’” Her voice was full of smug superiority. “Don’t worry, though: I’ll send you a picture. Or maybe... I’ll let you watch, as I make Shining Armor mine and destroy Canterlot.” She started to laugh as the image faded out and she was left staring at her normal reflection again.

She struck the crystal, which did absolutely nothing but hurt her hoof. “Come back! Let me out of here! What have you done to him?” She pounded on the crystal again, to no avail: Chrysalis didn’t return, and the crystal did not yield. She was left alone in the dark. A few hours later, every crystal in her cavern blinked to life.

As promised, Cadence was made to watch, horrified, as the doppelganger manipulated Shining Armor’s mind as he slept, and cemented her hold on him when he awoke. Before her first day in captivity was over, Chrysalis had slid herself seamlessly into Cadence’s life and had Shining Armor’s total devotion and affection.

Cadence soon came to realize that it was that stolen affection which hurt her the most. Everytime Shining told the imposter he loved her she felt a fresh stab of heartache. Whenever they were walking together, planning some little detail of the wedding, she felt pinpricks of jealousy down her spine. And every time they kissed... rage. Pure, unbridled rage.

The intensity of her reactions shocked her. Just yesterday she’d been doubting whether or not she truly loved Shining. But yesterday felt like years ago, when she’d felt so suffocated by everything, felt like she’d had no choice but to resign herself to marriage.

But now that everything was out of reach, now that she’d lost her fiance, she began to see just how much she actually wanted her old life. She started to realize just how much she wanted it back, realized how much wanted to be with him. Maybe she did truly loved him.

As the days passed, despair set in. Nopony seemed to notice Chrysalis was an imposter, not even Celestia, and everything seemed to be going Chrysalis’s way. Cadence scuffed a hoof across the rocky ground as she curled herself into a fitful ball.

Whether she loved Shining or not didn’t matter anymore. It was too late: the wedding was only three days away and she was still trapped, helpless in her prison. Nopony was even looking for her. What did it matter? She curled up tighter.

Her captor reappeared in the mirror, if anything more smug than before. “So? Are you enjoying the show?”

She didn’t turn around, didn’t even move. “Go away. Just... leave me alone.”

“Oh, I couldn’t do that. I had something to ask of you.”

She did turn at that, lifting her head to stare at her in disbelief. She gave a sarcastic, stunted half-chuckle. “What more could you possibly want from me? You’ve already taken everything!”

“No!” For a split second, Chrysalis lost her contented smile, a snarling, hateful grimace flashing across her face, before she snapped back to her smirk. “At least... not yet. Soon enough.” She leaned in closer, seeming to almost pop out of the mirror. “I wanted to make you an offer. Simply do something for me, something very simple, and I can make all this go away.”

“What, you’d just let me go?” She gave a dry snort. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I didn’t say that. No, I hope you understand that I can’t set you free. I would, however, provide you with a much more comfortable existence down here. A bed, pillows...” She chuckled. “Food and water, even. Anything you want, within reason of course, to live out your life comfortably. And all you have to do is admit to me, here and now, that you don’t love Shining Armor. Sounds reasonable enough, doesn’t it?”

Her breath caught, and she stood up slowly. She knew it was wrong, but she felt a strong urge to just give Chrysalis what she wanted. It was a seemingly small thing to ask. And for food and water? Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment at how good something so simple sounded.

There was some condensation in the cave and she could go longer than normal ponies without food, but even alicorns couldn’t survive indefinitely without sustenance. Even if it was a trick, what did she have to lose? Her dignity? She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She couldn’t say it. She strained, forced her lips to move, but what she said surprised her. “I... can’t. I love him.” It was but a tremulous whisper.

Chrysalis laughed derisively. “Oh, stop lying to yourself. Trust me, Cadence; I’m a master of love, and it’s quite obvious to me that you do not love him.”

She started to breathe a bit faster. No, it wasn’t true, was it? She did love him. She did.

“Just admit it.”

“No.”

“Cadence, accept the truth. You thought you did, but you didn’t, so you did something foalish. Tell the—”

“No!” She charged at the hated image, smashing her hoof into the mirror and breaking off a tiny chip from its surface. “I won’t say it! I won’t!” She stood, panting and staring defiantly at her captor.

For the first time Cadence had seen, Chrysalis seemed taken aback for a moment, before scowling at her. “Fine. I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.” The image in the mirror winked out and Cadence was left alone again.

Her breathing slowed as she gradually regained control of herself, her brief flare of defiance petering out as she curled herself back up again. Well, she thought, that’s that then. I’m going to die here, all because I was too angry to think rationally. Stupid.

But no matter how she berated herself, she couldn’t help but feel her knot of confusion over Shining loosen a bit more. She felt more sure of herself now, more sure that her love was real. Or maybe, she thought with a rueful smile, I just hate Chrysalis that much. For the first since her captivity began, her face bore a small smile.

Her better mood didn’t last very long once Chrysalis’s mirror flared to life again the next morning. It seemed the changeling was exacting revenge for Cadence’s defiance; she was constantly romancing Shining, brushing up against him, giving him little kisses throughout the day, flirting, and generally spending every waking moment in some form of lovey-dovey pursuit. She was the perfect image of an enamoured bride-to-be.

Strangely, she didn’t feel nearly as depressed as before. Now, what she felt most was anger: anger that somepony could do something like this to her, to Shining Armor. If she could only get out of here, she’d show Chrysalis a thing or two...

Her vivid fantasies of bucking the changeling queen out of a palace window were interrupted as she caught something Shining was saying. She refocused her attention on the mirror and listened intently. “Oh, before I forget, I got a letter from Twily today. She said she’ll be here tomorrow.”

Chrysalis stopped batting her eyes at him and recoiled from the stallion. “What?! Twilight Sparkle?! Who invited—” She shot a poisonous look through the mirror at Cadence, who was nearly giggling at the changeling’s consternation. Served her right.

Shining frowned, his brows furrowing in confusion. “...You did, honey. Besides, it’s not like I could refuse to invite my own sister to our wedding. Why, what’s-ngghhh-what’s wrong?” He grimaced, and brought a hoof to his head.

Chrysalis quickly regained her composure and attended to Shining, her voice a soothing and calming, like a siren’s song. “Oh, nothing, dear. Nothing is wrong.” Her horn glowed with a green magic that reflected in Shining’s eyes. “I just forgot I invited her for a moment. Wedding nerves, I guess. Why don’t you go back home and wait for me? I’ll be there in a little bit.”

Shining nodded slowly, his voice a soft monotone. “Yes, of course...I’ll wait for you in our room... See you soon... Love you.”

As he walked off, Chrysalis focused her attention on Cadence, her face livid. “You couldn’t just let it go, could you? You had to try and drag in another. Drag her into this. Trying to distract me.”

For once, Cadence was the one with the smug smile. “Awww, what’s wrong?” Her mocking tone provoked a snarl from her imposter. “Are you nervous, now? Are you afraid?” Her smile vanished as she spoke more seriously. “You should be. Even if Twilight and I aren’t quite as close as we used to be, she’ll see you for what you really are. She’ll expose you! And cast you down!”

“No!” Chrysalis’s shout reverberated throughout the cavern and Cadence shot her hooves to her ears to try and stave off the ringing. “This is between you and me, Cadence! You should never have brought her into this! She doesn’t belong here!”

Cadence brought her hooves down, and felt a small smile creep to her face. It seemed she’d struck a nerve. Time to hammer at it. “Twilight will get rid of you! You’ll see. She’ll find out the truth.”

Chrysalis opened her mouth, then stopped, thoughtful, before closing it again with a wicked smile. Cadence faltered slightly, her smile fading to a small frown. What had she missed that could cause Chrysalis to go from furious back to smug so suddenly?

“And what if she does, Cadence?” She gave a nasty chuckle and arched an eyebrow at her. “Hmm? What if Twilight does find out the truth? All of it, the real truth... and tells her brother your dirty little secret?”

Cadence recoiled from the mirror. How did she know? How could she possibly know that?

Upon seeing Cadence pull away, the changeling’s grin turned feral. “Well, then you’d be out, true, but...” She gave Cadence a look of mock sympathy. “I doubt Twilight would care much for you, and Shining... well, you can imagine how upset he’d be.”

Her sympathetic frown changed back to a satisfied smile. “Now, If you’ll excuse me, I have a fiance waiting for me. It’s a big day tomorrow, after all. I have to meet the best mare.” The mirror rippled and Chrysalis started to disappear.

Cadence charged the crystal, pounding futily on the mirror as Chrysalis vanished, her strikes eventually petering out. She felt her earlier hope drain out of her like water from a sieve, and she finally felt fear, though not for herself. However she’d found out, and however much Cadence hated to admit it, Chrysalis was right. That vile little insect was right.

If Twilight found out the truth and told everypony, she’d lose Shining Armor for sure. But she didn’t want Chrysalis to hurt Twilight! And if Twilight couldn’t stop her, who knew what she’d do? Yes, it was best to hope that Twilight would win... only then she’d lose her fiance forever. Some true love that’d be. And it wasn’t as if Twilight would talk to her. She’d be alienated forever.

She flopped back to the ground and started sobbing at the hopelessness of it all. “What am I going to do?”

The mirror flared to life again the next day as Chrysallis climbed the steps of the tower. “You know, I really didn’t need this, Cadence. My wedding’s tomorrow, and I really don’t have time to deal with your problematic little pen-pal.

Cadence snorted at the insult. “Twilight and I are good friends. Best friends! She knows me, and she’ll know you’re not me!”

She tsked. “Writing her letters when you have the time hardly makes you best friends. She’s been slipping away from you since Celestia took her as a student. Now she has new best friends, and you aren’t among them.” She stopped in from of the door and turned to look straight at her. “She used to know you, Cadence. The old you.” She gave a cold smile. “Let’s see how she likes the new you.”

Cadence shot her a hateful glare. Would she never be satisfied with how thoroughly she had ruined her life? Why did she always seek to further destroy it? “Will you leave me nothing at all, you witch?” But it went unheard; Chrysalis had already turned away, either no longer listening or actively ignoring her.

Chrysalis opened the door, clearing her throat pompously. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important!” Cadence saw Twilight again, for the first time in years. She had grown into a fine looking young mare. Cadence’s eyes watered, and she reached up to wipe at them with a hoof.

She’d grown up so much, it was hard to believe she was the same little filly from her younger years. She so wished she could have been the one there, meeting her. She had so much to ask her: everything she’d learned, how her studies were, whether she’d met anypony-

“Cadence!” Twilight ran up to the imposter, and started to sing as she acted out their old hoof game. “Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

Cadence found herself mirroring the unicorn before she could stop herself. She looked at her hooves in disbelief, then shook her head slowly. It was infectious.

Chrysalis looked rather taken aback. “...What are you doing?”

Twilight looked at her questioningly before she regained her composure. “Cadence, it’s me! Twilight!”

“Uh huh.” She walked past her nonchalantly to stand beside Shining Armor, who embraced her.

The hurt look on Twilight’s face was reflected on Cadence’s own. How low of her. It was bad enough she was impersonating her and stealing her fiance, but now she was intentionally ruining her relationship with Twilight.

Cadence was unsurprised to see Shining Armor didn’t notice the strangeness of the supposed reunion. He was so deeply enthralled Chrysalis could have thrown Twilight off the bridge and he wouldn’t have batted an eye. He gave his sister an ecstatic smile. “I've gotta get back to my station, but Cadance will be checking in with all of you to see how things are going. I think I speak for both of us when I say we couldn't be more excited to have you here. Right, dear?”

“Absolutely.” The imposter didn’t even bother to disguise her hatred, fixing Twilight with a malicious gaze. Twilight recoiled, and Cadence couldn’t blame her.

Cadence turned to a nearby crystal and tried to imitate the stare. Did she really look that scary when she got angry? She turned back as the couple left Twilight on the bridge, staring at Twilight over the shoulder of the retreating Chyrsalis.

“Come on, Twilight,” she called out to the unhearing pony, placing a hoof on the mirror over the image of Twilight, trying to reach out to her. “That isn’t me. You know it isn’t me.” Twilight hung her head and began to walk away as the door shut behind Shining Armor. “...Don’t you?” Cadence dropped her hoof from the mirror dejectedly, her pleas unanswered.

It was not her last chance to see Twilight. Indeed, she was a common fixture as Chrysalis went on a tour of terror through the wedding preparations, yelling at workers, scoffing at their efforts, and generally making her look like the most pompous mare in Equestria.

She wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or upset by the sort of stares Twilight was starting to throw her double’s way. However good it was to finally see somepony not take Chrysalis for granted, it hurt to see Twilight think of her in such a venomous way.

She just hoped Twilight would hate her enough to stop her.

Chrysalis sat in Shining’s bedroom, brushing her mane and humming an idle tune. She turned to look at Cadence. “How could you entrust your wedding to such horrible amateurs?” She snorted. “I suppose you just couldn’t resist making the wedding even more of an atrocity.”

“I thought most of it was nice! You just couldn’t—”

Chrysalis had stopped listening, and had her head perked as if listening to something else. “Later.”

“No, now, you slimy little...” It was no use. Chrysalis was ignoring her again.

She cracked open the bedroom door and Twilight’s voice drifted up from the living room. She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Ugh. Why can’t she just leave us alone?” She strode out to the top of the stairs and cleared her throat loudly. Shining and Twilight both turned to face her.

Shining recovered first. “Oh, uh, hi Sweetie.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

Chrysalis descended, staring coldly at them both. “Could I speak to you for a moment, dear?” Her vehemence made clear it was not a request. She turned without waiting for a response and stalked off toward the study.

Shining Armor followed quickly, and barely had the door shut before she rounded on him. “Look, we need to talk.”

He held up a hoof placatingly. “I'm here to talk. I—look, she's okay—”

She slapped his hoof down. “Just listen to me.”

“I’m listening, I’m listening.”

As the two bickered, Cadence caught a brief flicker of motion out of the corner of her eye. She looked back to the study door, and saw Twilight peeking in on the two.

Chrysalis, still engrossed and facing the wrong way, didn’t seem to notice. She cut off Shining’s argument with a powerful burst of her magic. Cadence saw Twilight gasp and dart away from the door, and a hard smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. “Just you wait, monster,” she whispered. “Now Twilight knows for sure.”

“..Because you're evil! Evil! And if I don't stop you, you're gonna ruin my brother's life! Evil!”

Cadence could have cheered, and she heaved a deep sigh of relief as Twilight laid it out for the other ponies. Surely now, they’d investigate the impostor, and they’d see it wasn’t her! Surely now... She saw the horrified looks on the assembled ponies as Chrysalis fled from the grand hall, ‘crying’ her eyes out.

Her heart sunk as she heard Shining berate his sister for jumping to the correct conclusions, heard Celestia’s cold disapproval as she too scolded her. Chrysalis’s tears cut off as soon as she turned the corner, and the changeling gave Cadence a confident smile. “Any more forlorn hopes, Cadence? Any other ponies to throw between us? Face it, you’ve lost.”

She really wasn’t in the mood for gloating. “You’re a sick, twisted creature.”

Chrysalis laughed. “You’re the only pony who seems to think so. Don’t worry: you won’t have to go through with the wedding after all. Isn’t that what you wanted? Isn’t that what you secretly hoped for, deep-”

“Shut up.” Cadance’s anger didn’t reach her voice, she sounded calm. Dangerously calm. She’d finally gotten so angry, so frustrated with the changeling, that she’d forgotten about everything else; the hopelessness of her entrapment, the self doubt, even all her doubts, were burned from her by fury. All she could think of was a heartbroken Twilight, and Shining Armor chained to Chrysalis for the rest of his life.

The changeling started, taken aback by her sudden change.

“This has gone on for too long! Well, I’m not going to just sit here anymore! I’m not going to give up on them! I won’t let you hurt Twilight, or Shining, like that again! You hear that, you slimesucking drama queen?! I will stop you!”

“Her again. Again! Always between the issue. You still can’t admit how you really

dare hurt her!” Cadence screamed, pounding on the mirror frantically as Chrysalis smirked, and surrounded Twilight in a dome of green flame. “No! No! Stop it!” But the flame cleared, and Twilight was gone. Her hooves didn’t slow. Why hadn’t she fought harder? What had she ever just given up? Now, for her own stupidity, Twilight was gone. Her hooves started to hurt, but she didn’t stop, a low growl building up to a wordless shout.

Suddenly, much to her surprise, the wall and mirror in front of her exploded. She jumped back in surprise, coughing from the dust raised by the rubble. There was no way she’d hit it that hard, had she? As the dust cleared, she saw Twilight stand in the newly created hole in the wall.

She felt her heart unclench. Twilight was alive! Twilight was okay! Twilight... looked pretty mad. Cadence’s eyes widened as she realized that Twilight had reason to hate anypony looking like her. She managed to get out a startled “Wait!” before she was slammed into the ground by the unicorn. “It’s me!”

“Prove it!”

She blinked, at a loss as to how, then settled for their old fillyhood pattycake game. Twilight looked a little surprised, then let her up. “It’s you.” Twilight hugged her, and she closed her eyes, leaning against the mare, and for just a moment, everything was all right again. She opened her eyes, looking over Twilight’s shoulder, face pulling back into a determined grin as she saw a small spark of light from the cave Twilight had come from. There was an exit now.

It was time to stop standing helplessly, and try and right things. It was time to crash her wedding.

She only hoped she wasn’t too late.

Chapter 3

Cadence burst into the great hall, Twilight by her side, just in time to hear Chrysalis complain.

"Ugh! Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother? [sobbing] Why does she have to ruin my special day?”

Cadence tried not to roll her eyes at the charade. “Because it’s not your special day. It’s mine!” She looked around at the confused ponies assembled there. “She's a changeling. She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them.” She pointed an accusing hoof, eyes flashing with grim satisfaction as she finally outed her imposter.

Chrysalis growled, and in a flash of green fire, took her true form, growing taller, wings changing into buzzing insect wings, her skin turning black and chitinous.

Cadence started forward, headed for Shining, but was stopped by a slam of Chrysalis's hoof. “Ah, ah, ah. Don't want to go back to the caves, now do you? Ever since I took your place, I've been feeding off Shining Armor's love for you. Every moment he grows weaker and so does his spell. Even now, my minions are chipping away at it. Soon, my changeling army will break through.

"First, we take Canterlot. And then, all of Equestria!”

“No. You won't.” Cadence blinked. She’d just been about to say that. She saw Celestia step up behind Chrysalis, who whirled to face the new threat.

“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 can protect my subjects from you!” Celestia reared back, the full might of the sun princess brought to bear in a torrent of magical energy that the changeling quickly blunted with a green beam of fire.

Cadence sighed with relief. It was over. Celestia was one of the strongest magic-users in the world. But she stared in disbelief as the changeling matched that awesome power... and pushed back against it.

Her hopes were dashed as Celestia was thrown back to the floor. Twilight and her friends ran out of the great hall as changeling drones broke through and descended on the city.

She rounded on the changeling. What could she do? What more could be done? She started past Chrysalis, up the steps toward Shining Armor. She reached the top just as two drones descended and trapped her hooves in a green, sticky goo.

Chrysalis sauntered over to her, insufferably pleased with herself. “His love for us is so strong.” She grinned at Cadence. “I wonder why...”

Cadence grunted a “hmmmm!” of defiance at her. “For me." And that’s because we do love each other! Whatever you say!”

Chrysalis snorted in disbelief. “You still can’t say it to him, can you?” Cadence turned to look at Shining, and licked her lips nervously. “Twilight and her friends will–”

The doors burst open, and the captive Twilight and her friends were herded into the grand hall by a dozen changeling guards.

“You were saying?” Crysalis asked her with a gloating smile. She turned to the window, laughing manically and watching the drones tear canterlot apart. She didn’t see Twilight crawl over to Cadance and remove the green goo with a short burst of magic.

“Go to him,” Twilight whispered.

She darted over to Shining, reaching out to gently touch his face, a tear rolling down her cheek at his unwavering, green-eyed trance. She felt leaden in her stomach. Why hadn’t she told him? Out of all the chances she’d had, why had she never told him how much he meant to her? All the fear, the doubt, the indecision, why why why had she let it stop her?

She started as he groaned and shook his head, and she felt herself smile for what felt like the first time in years. He was okay! He was... well, everything else was doomed, but he was okay!

“Perform your spell!” Twilight called out.

He tried. He tried alone. She saw how much it hurt him to try. But he couldn’t. “I don’t have the strength to repel them.” He groaned.

He needed her. She reached out to him, clinging to him tightly. “My love will give you strength.”

Crysalis scoffed. “What a lovely but absolutely ridiculous sentiment.”

Cadence shot her a venomous look, then closed her eyes, pouring all the love she’d fought so hard to feel into him, pushing past her false and phony feeling until finally, she allowed herself to feel how she truly love him. She touched his horn to hers, and...

“No! No!”

She peeked an eye open as she heard Chrysalis screech, then opened them both in alarm at the scene around her. Everypony was frozen in place, except for the changeling, who was striding toward her, fury painted on her face.

“You’re still clinging to the lies, Cadence! That is not true love!”

Cadence rounded on her. “What have you done? What’s going on?”

“I’m showing you the truth. I thought you could face it here, but you couldn’t. You brought this on yourself.”

Chrysalis’s horn glowed a deep green, and everything went black.

Chapter 4

Cadence opened her eyes, shaking her head, then stopped, blinking at the walls. Her mind slowly coming to grips with the wrongness of her location. She was lying on her side, but the stone beneath her was rough; not at all like the smooth tile of the throne room. It was warm here, and the air was too humid for Canterlot.

She bolted up and onto her hooves as she recalled what happened to her. She was clearly not in Canterlot; the room she was in was a perfect square of russet red stone, slick with condensation. It also... pulsed, undulating slightly in time with her heartbeat, the floor writhing gently beneath her hooves with every beat. She shivered in disgust.

“Eerrraggghhh! Cadence!”

The shout nearly gave her a heart attack. It was Shining, she knew it, and he sounded like he was in pain. He sounded close, too, as if he were just behind the wall across from her... there was a door. It looked just like the stone around it, save for the nearly invisible doorframe and a small, ornate handle that blended into the door perfectly. She didn’t think it had been there before... had she simply missed it, or had it only appeared when she heard Shining scream?

She shook her head and galloped to the door. It didn’t matter and she didn’t have time to wonder: Shining was in trouble. She burst through the door, but he wasn’t inside.

The room looked to be identical to the one she just left, save that this one was occupied. Near the left wall, Celestia and Chrysalis were locked in battle, though this time it seemed they were at a stalemate.

Celestia raised her head to look up at her as she entered, a look of hope flashing across her face. She barely managed to grind out a sentence; her voice strained and tight from her magical exertion. “Cadence...help me. We can...beat her...together!”

She took a step towards the Princess when the scream came again.

“Caaadence!”

She looked over her shoulder, where another door stood waiting, then back to the Princess. She bit her lip, looking between the battle and the door. She wouldn’t just leave, she couldn’t just leave... but she knew she had to. “I’m sorry. I... can’t. I have to help him. I’m sorry.” She took a step away from them, and she saw the line of energy slip closer to Celestia, saw Chrysalis start to smile.

Celestia’s look of hope turned to one of pure abject fear as the line slipped closer yet. “Cadence, what are you saying? Help me! Help me save them! Why won’t you help me?!”

She couldn’t take it. She turned a deaf ear to Celestia’s increasingly frantic pleas and fled, rushing through the door as they turned to screams of agony and Chrysalis started laughing. She let out a shuddering breath as the door closed and cut off the haunting screams and laughter both. She sagged against it and tried to compose herself. What kind of horrible place—

“Cadence! Come and play!”

She looked up, startled. This room could have been either of the other two, save for the patch of grass and tree growing in the center, apparently out of solid rock. There, waving at her with a hoof, was a purple filly... it couldn’t be.

“Twilight?” It was, unmistakably, a young filly Twilight. Moreover, she recognized the the tree: it was in a small park they often went to when Cadence was foalsitting her.

Twilight galloped over to her, gave her a swift hug, then took her by the hoof, futilely trying to pull her toward the tree. “C’mon, Cadence! I have to show you something!”

They had made it halfway to the tree when she heard the scream again. She looked and there, on the right, was another door. She turned back to Twilight, and pulled her hoof away in shock; the park was the same, but Twilight was a fully grown mare, the mare Cadence had seen in Canterlot.

She was still full of the same bright-eyed enthusiasm, though. “Cadence! Come and see this new spell I learned!” She started walking toward the tree again.

Cadence took a half-step after her before she could stop herself. She’d missed Twilight so much. It would be so easy... She raised her hoof for another step toward the excited Twilight, then shook her head, setting it firmly back down.

No. She had to keep going, had to find Shining Armor. She wrenched herself around and started plodding toward the door. The room seemed to fight her: the wall with the door looked much farther away than it had been, and the grass pulled at her hooves. But worst of all, with her first step away,Twilight was suddenly ahead of her, all happiness gone.

“Cadence? Where are you going? Don’t you want to see my...”

She took another heavy step past her and Twilight reappeared ahead of her.

“Don’t you care? I know we haven’t been close, but I still want to be friends! Don’t you want to be my friend, Cadence?”

Another step, another Twilight. This one was different. This one was angry.

“Fine, then. You outgrew me, is that it? I was just another filly to you? Well, I don’t need you anymore, either.”

She started to break, felt her eyes water, Twilight’s words hitting too close to home. Another step. She was almost to the door, but it was getting harder and harder to keep going.

Twilight was surrounded by five other mares, and she was smiling. She looked so happy with them. “Oh, girls, I’m so happy I met you. I know you’d never leave me. You’re my real friends.” As she said it, she shot Cadence a look of pure poison.

One more step and she was at the door. This Twilight looked older, but no less angry.

“You used me to get to him! Played nice so he’d like you! I was just a tool. You never cared! Well, I hope you’re happy with him, because I never want to see you again!”

But she was so close now. She opened the door and tried to walk through, but there was one last Twilight in her way. She was an old mare, sitting in a rocking chair.

“I’m sorry, dear, should I know you? I don’t remember anypony named ‘Cadence.’ Are you sure you aren’t looking for somepony else?”

Though this last Twilight wasn’t angry, she was the worst. She dove through the door, eyes stinging. She wiped at them with a hasty hoof. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. It couldn’t...

Her train of thought was broken as somepony grunted in exertion and a heart-shaped blue glass sculpture smashed into the wall next to her head, shattering into pieces. She recognized it from the shards on the floor: it was a gift she’d given to Shining. She looked back along its path to see who would throw such a thing.

“Caaadence!”

He was here. She’d finally reached him. She only hoped she wasn’t too late, that he wasn’t too badly hurt by whatever had caused his screams. She galloped toward him. “Shining! Shining, I’m here. Everything—” She stopped. He was standing by a table laden with gifts they’d given each other on anniversaries, birthdays and the like. Many were smashed to pieces, broken, or twisted beyond repair. He didn’t look wounded, he looked... angry.

“You cast your spell on me? How could you, Cadence?”

Not this, she thought. Anything else. Bring back the spiteful Twilights, the terrified Celestia, anything else. She hesitantly approached, tried to lay a hoof on his face.“W-what are you talking—”

He shoved her away roughly. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You made me love you! Laid your love magics on me so strongly you forced me to follow along after you like a pet!”

She started to tremble. She tried to reassure him. “Shining, please, I was—”

“I don’t want to hear it!” He stormed closer, and she shrank back in fear. “You twisted me. You lied to me, and for what? Some phony wedding?” He loaded the word with such scorn she flinched.

She drew a shaky breath. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Not after all she’d done, how hard she’d tried to try and make things right. “Shining, dear, I love—”

He slapped her in the face, hard. The blow, backed by his guardpony build, sent her staggering.

“Don’t you say that. You don’t get to say that to me anymore. I’m done with your lies.”

“Don’t say it. Please, don’t.” She reached out for him , but he moved back out of reach.

“I don’t love you, Cadence. And I doubt I ever did.”

She sagged. It couldn’t be over. It couldn’t. But it was. He didn’t love her, and she didn’t deserve his love. She started crying, but hardly noticed the tears. She felt numb.

She couldn’t manage to look him in the eye when he walked up in front of her. “I just want to know why, Cadence. Why’d you do it? You owe me that much, at least.”

“I...I don’t know,” she barely whispered.

He picked her up with his magic, slamming her into the wall. “Not good enough! Why, Cadence? Why?”

She finally broke, the words slipping free on their own accord. “Beacause!... Because I didn’t want to lose you. Because I was afraid!” As she said it, she realized that it was true: she really had been afraid. She had loved him.

He dropped her in shock as some of the rage in his eyes gave way to surprise. He opened his mouth to speak, but now that she had gotten started, it all seemed to come pouring out of her. “I’d lost Twilight when she became Celestia’s protege, and you’d been so distant since she left. Then you said you were going to join the Guards, and I was afraid that... that that was the end of us. That I’d lose you, too.”

She managed to stand back up and slowly started to walk back over to him. “So I panicked, and did something so foalish, so... stupid. I was so scared, I couldn’t just trust that everything would be all right. I loved you and I couldn’t let you leave, so I made the worst mistake of my life.”

She leaned in to kiss him, and he didn’t try to stop her. But her lips barely brushed his as he froze and crumbled to dust. The ground began to rumble and shake. The stone room began to crack, the walls and ceiling breaking apart in chunks.

Over the rumble of the destruction a familiar voice slowly grew louder. “No no no no no no no!”

The room around her, which had been slowly dissolving, exploded in a cloud of dust which vanished before it could hit the floor. She was back in the grand hall, back at her wedding, as if she’d never left. She looked around. Everything still looked the same, but it felt different. Like there was more there than there was before. Everypony was still frozen, except for her and a now-screaming Chrysalis.

“You don’t love him, Cadence! We both know it. Why do you keep living the lie? Why don’t you admit it to yourself?!”

“You’re right.” She felt strangely calm. She’d made her peace, admitted the truth to Shining Armor. Now she saw the truth around her. Now she had to accept the truth, and fully admit it to herself. “It’s time to stop lying. It’s time to see the truth. And none of this,” she waved a hoof at their surroundings. “Is real, is it?”

She walked to the window, where Canterlot stood in ruins, its subjects frozen in flight from the changeling invaders. “Canterlot, capital of Equestria. I told myself it was my duty, my royal duty, to love him. To provide a prince, as a Princess is supposed to do.” She threw Chrysalis a casual glance over her shoulder.

“But you destroyed it, didn’t you? And even after the city fell, it didn’t change anything. Even after royal duty was taken from the equation, I still didn’t know whether I loved him or not.” Outside, Canterlot and its subjects splintered into shards and disappeared; outside the window was a void, the nothingness which the reality had been composed of.

She ignored the changeling queen and walked over to Celestia, still trapped in the cocoon. “Celestia, paragon of magic, ruler of the realm. I suppose Luna is too, but I’d never been as familiar with her, else she would be her too, wouldn’t she?” She tapped the cocoon idly. “If there were any magic, any mortal means capable of overpowering love, she would know it. She could perform it."

"But you beat her. More importantly, you beat her with his love. Love was stronger than even Celestia, and there was no magic that could remove love for me, whether it was real or coerced by a spell. I had to choose.” The cocoon and Celestia shattered into nothingness.

Chrysalis’s wings shot out, and she raised herself up defiantly. “Stop. Stop! Stop it now!”

She walked over to one of the four ponies left and smiled down at her. “Twilight. She was the best memory, and so she was the most dangerous trap. I never wanted to admit it, but I tried to love him for her. So we could be best friends again. So we could be close again. But you defeated her as well."

"The one thing that could be stronger than Celestia: an Element of Harmony. But even she failed. You showed me—” She choked a little, bracing herself for what she still didn’t want to say. “...I couldn’t let Twilight couldn’t be the deciding factor. She could pull me from that empty cavern of my indecision, my inaction, but she couldn’t be another excuse for marrying him, as much as I wanted her to be more than anything else.” She reached out to touch Twilight, and with a gentle push, she shattered.

Chrysalis broke into a gallop, charging straight at Cadence.

Cadence whirled and fixed the charging queen with a glare and she was trapped in mid-stride, her legs frozen. She walked up to the captive queen, looking over her almost lazily.

Though Chrysalis’s legs were frozen, she still struggled to move, but now attempted to lean away. “Oh, no. No, you don’t even think about it.”

Cadence stopped just out of Chrysalis’s reach. “Then there was you. You, who tricked Shining Armor into loving you. You, who removed all my escapes and excuses, all the things I used to hide behind, besting them one by one. You, who could only be beaten by, who only feared, true love.” She reached out and gently brushed a hoof across Chrysalis’s face, the black, shining carapace coming off in her hoof to reveal a pink coat underneath. “You’re no changeling. The changeling is the illusion. You’re a reflection, the embodiment of all my doubts and fears over the spell I cast on Shining.

Chrysalis’s shell shattered, her carapace and insect-like wings vanishing into splinters. All that remained was a vengeful Cadence staring daggers at her. That was all that had ever been.

All of the unloving Cadence’s fear was gone. “And you don’t love him. You don’t! You can’t! I am the stronger! I am Cadence, how we truly are! How we really

She turned her back on it, the hateful piece of her, and started toward the only other pony left: the still-frozen Shining Armor. Her voice came as a whisper, but it was firm, and she knew the other Cadence would hear it. “Not anymore. Not ever again. I love him.”

The other Cadence tried to follow her, but she couldn’t move forward, was now incapable of stopping the loving Cadence, who was nearly to Shining. “This isn’t over! You can’t kill me, just like I couldn’t kill you! Everytime you two argue and fight, everytime you’re depressed or upset at him; everytime your foals annoy you and everytime you lie awake at night and you doubt your choice, I’ll be back!.”

She had reached him, and paused to look back at the captive, raging Cadence. “Maybe I can’t kill you.” She leaned in toward Shining, her voice hard. “But I can make sure you go away for a long, long time!”

She touched her horn to Shining’s, and everything snapped back into existence. Their horns glowed and she felt Shining Armor’s shield spell wash over her and expel Chrysalis and the rest of the changelings. She was distantly aware of Twilight helping Celestia up, but for the most part, there was only him.

They stood together, supporting each other and simply enjoying the feeling of being together again. They broke apart as Celestia approached, clearing her throat gently. “As I was just telling Twilight... I believe you have a real wedding to plan?”

Cadence tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid fiddling with her veil as she waited for the wedding march. It was perfectly ridiculous that, after all that had happened, she was still nervous over her wedding. Right, she thought, because my emotions are so rational. She’d already proven that one wrong.

The birds started to sing, the doors opened, and the three flower-fillies made their way down the aisle. She took a deep breath and followed after them, affecting an air of royal serenity and dignity which belied the butterflies in her stomach. She walked up to altar and waited for Celestia to begin.

“Mares and Gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza-”

“Princess Cadence is fine.” She didn’t want ponies fumbling over ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’ all night. Besides, she liked Cadence better.

“Hmmm. The union of Princess Cadence, and Shining Armor. The strength of their commitment is clear, the power of their love undeniable. May we have the rings, please?”

Spike held out the rings, and her breath caught as Celestia slipped them on their horns.

“I now pronounce you mare and colt.”

As they walked out onto the balcony to wave at the ponies massed below, she heard Celestia speak from behind.

“This is your victory as much as theirs. You persisted in the face of doubt. And your actions led to your being able to bring the real Princess Cadence back to us. Learning to trust your instincts is a valuable lesson to learn.”

She looked back over her shoulder incredulously. How did Celestia know—Oh. She turned back around to wave at the crowd. She’d been speaking to Twilight. Cadence chuckled, shaking her head ruefully. If they only knew...

She laughed as she piled into the carriage after Shining Armor. She smoothed out her gown as he called out the window to the driver and the carriage took off, speeding them toward their honeymoon suite. She leaned to rest her head on his chest as soon as he sat back down. “I think this was the perfect night.”

He gave a dry laugh. “Yeah, invasion of Canterlot, insanely powerful love leech taking over my mind, violent, nearly-successful takeover of Equestria... It’s a good thing nothing went wrong!”

She couldn’t help but laugh, slapping him on the shoulder in a playful reproach. “All that doesn’t matter. Everything turned out perfectly.”

He put his foreleg around her and pulled her in tight. “I know how we could make tonight even better.”

She snuggled up against him. “Oh? How?” She asked coyly.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You could wake up.”

“What?” She pulled away from him, then there was a loud thump as the carriage lurched.

Chapter 5

She woke up to the click of the bedroom door closing and the faint clack of Shining Armor’s hoof on the tile. She sat up in shock as the sound roused her.

He gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry I woke you,” he whispered, “I meant get back sooner, but we got caught up in something and…” He shrugged and walked over to the bed. He took a deep breath, then hesitantly started to speak. “Cadence, whatever you might say, I’ve noticed you haven’t been happy since we started planning for the wedding. I don’t want to make you miserable. I didn’t mean to force you into anything; if this isn’t the right time, or if it’s too soon, we can postpone. I can—“

“No, Shining, it’s not that, it’s…” She put a hoof on his shoulder and sighed. As much as she didn’t want to do this, she knew now that she had to, or she’d never be able live with herself. “I need to tell you something. Promise me that you’ll listen to everything before… before you decide to hate me.”

He pulled back in shock for just a moment, then pulled her closer, the shock giving way to concern as he tried to comfort her. “Oh, no, what are you talking about, Cadence, love? I could never hate you. You know that. Come here.”

She put a hoof on his chest and pushed away from him before he could complete the embrace. “I know you couldn’t. Please, just listen. Please.”

He put his foreleg down and nodded, but the concern in his eyes grew stronger.

“I…” She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “I cast a love spell on you—on us. A powerful one. Just after Twilight was accepted as Celestia’s student, and you applied for the guards.”Her throat felt tight, and she had to choke the words out. “I was so afraid that it would be over for us without her. You’d been more distant and I… I didn’t want to lose you. I thought you didn’t love me anymore so… so I made you love me.” She finished in a whisper. As she said it, she felt a weight lift off her conscience. She’d done it; she’d admitted the truth to him. But she was by no means finished.

She had his attention now. His face had twisted to a contemplative frown. “So you’re saying… none of it’s real?” He said slowly. The pain in his voice wrenched at her, far worse than his anger had in her dream.

She slowly began to walk back over to him. “No, my love for you is real. I know that now. But for the longest time, I lied to myself, told myself that it wasn’t. That all I felt was the spell telling me to love you, and anything more I felt for you was my sense of duty, or love for Twilight, or some inexplicable twist in the magic.” She stopped a hooveslength from him, reluctant to reach out for him. “But what about you, Shining? Do you love me from the spell, or do you really love me?”

He reached out for her and pulled her into an embrace. “No, I do love you. I’ve always loved you, Cadence! No magic could ever change that, could make me love you more completely.”

She leaned into the embrace, savoring it, as it could be the last. She didn’t have to do the rest, didn’t want to do the rest. She could leave him like this and bask in his love for her. Was it really so terrible, to let him continue to love her? Even if there was a chance it wasn’t real?

She felt a jolt and her eyes flew wide open as she realized just how closely her logic ran to that of the creature from her nightmare. She couldn’t do that. She could never do that again, and she certainly couldn’t allow it to continue.

Reluctantly, she broke away from him. “Shining, I have to do this one last thing, to set things right. I’m going to remove the love spell. If you don’t feel the same afterwards, I’ll understand.”

He nodded and closed his eyes, standing patiently. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Her horn glowed as she cast the spell, a similar glow surrounding them both. A heart formed halfway between them before cracking and breaking into two separate hearts, which floated gently into their respective owners. The glow faded, and she felt the artificial love vanish, panting slightly from the effort of undoing so strong a spell.

He opened his eyes and looked at her, considering her with a frown. She felt a tightness in her chest, kept fearing he would turn into the raging avatar of her nightmare; kept fearing he would plunge her into an equally horrible reality with a simple “I don’t love you.”

At length, he spoke. “I don’t…I don’t feel any different.” His smile took her breath away.

“Neither do I.”

He leaned in toward her, and for the first time, she returned his intense kiss with a fierce passion of her own. All hesitation, all doubt had vanished, and she held nothing back. The false love of the spell had been a haze, had smothered the true love she felt for him, which now shone through without resistance.

They broke apart and simply stood, trying to catch their breath. Shining Armor finally spoke, just as she was starting to lean in for another kiss. “Cadence?”

She didn’t stop, and only deigned to respond when she felt his breath on her cheek. “What?”

“Let’s get married.”