Twilight Sparkle covered her eyes. The strength of Princess Cadance’s and Shining Armor’s love for each other created a blinding wave of magic, blasting the invading changelings far away from Canterlot, and hopefully, all of Equestria.

The sheer force of it was overpowering. Not even the Changeling Queen’s scream of rage could be heard over the power of their spell. Her cries were carried away, along with all of her plans of domination.

Within seconds, it was over.

Twilight lowered her hooves cautiously. Her ears were still ringing from the magical overload, despite the wave of power not being directed at her. Just being in such close proximity to such powerful magic was enough to leave her horn tingling and her head fuzzy. Twilight now had a new sense of appreciation for all of her old magic instructors.

Twilight blinked the last of the spots out of her vision as the pink glow faded from the room. All around her, ponies were stumbling to their hooves as they were freed from their slimy prisons.

Twilight smiled as relief washed through her.

Princess Celestia, her mentor and one of the rulers of Equestria broke free from the cocoon she had been imprisoned in, somehow managing to appear graceful and serene even when pulling away from green goop. As the last slimy tendrils freed her legs, helped along with a few strategic beams of magic, Princess Celestia turned her attention to Shining Armor and Cadance.

Princess Cadance fairly gleamed with love. The scrapes and bruises she had endured from her time in the crystal caverns had all been magically washed away, until she looked every bit the beautiful princess she was.

With the magical residue from their spell still shimmering around her, Cadance was truly breathtaking. Everypony in the room was standing in awe of her.

Not that Cadance noticed any of that. All of her attention was focused on the stallion standing by her side.

Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guards and soon-to-be prince-consort had also felt the effects of the spell. All of the signs of fatigue and stress that had clouded his past few weeks had vanished as he shone of the love he shared with Cadance. As Shining Armor stared into Cadance’s eyes and held her tightly, neither of them noticed Twilight standing off to the side.

Alone.

Twilight’s smile faltered. All around her, ponies were picking each other off the ground and hugging as they were reunited with their friends and families.

And yet, nopony reached for her. It was like she was alone in a crowd of ponies.

Twilight peered over the crowd, searching for her friends.

Alone. Why?

Twilight shook her head. A sense of sadness washed over her.

‘Why?’ Twilight wondered, repeating the voice speaking in her head. ‘Everypony’s safe now. That horrible ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’ was a fake. And evil! I was right! I saved the real Cadance, the changelings are gone, and my brother’s not about to marry an evil queen bent on taking over all of Equestria. Everything on the saving-the-day checklist is complete, so why do I still feel like something’s wrong?’

Twilight looked around, but she didn’t see anything to explain the sense of dread spreading over her.

‘Everypony is happy. Shouldn’t I be happy, too?’

The room full of celebrating ponies suddenly seemed claustrophobic. Everypony was celebrating happily, as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

Because they don’t. The day was saved. That’s all they care about.

Do they even remember who was suspicious of ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’ in the first place? Or who saved the true Princess Cadance?

Not to mention saving Shining from making the biggest mistake of his life! Do I hear a thank-you?

It’s like they don’t even care…

Twilight shook her head. ‘No, that’s not true. They do care about me. My friends apologized… well Applejack did…. But she probably spoke for everypony! And Shining Armor and Princess Celestia just haven’t had a chance to speak with me yet. I’m sure they’ll apologize too, after things quiet down. It’s not like it’s their fault Chrysalis fooled them. She fooled everypony.’

Everypony?

Twilight winced. At some point during her internal argument, she had developed a headache. “I need some air.” Twilight said to nopony in particular. Nopony seemed to be paying any attention to her anyway.

Twilight headed towards the open doors, hoping a stroll through the gardens would help clear her mind. Twilight rubbed her head. Her thoughts were going around in so many circles, she was getting dizzy.

It was such a thick crowd that it was slow going. Twilight had only managed a few paces when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. First assuming that somepony had just bumped into her, again, she attempted to shrug it off.

When the hoof didn’t move, Twilight turned and looked into the smiling face of her old foal-sitter and soon-to-be sister-in-law Princess Cadance.

“Where are you going, Twilight?” Cadance asked. “You have a wedding to plan!"

“Oh… right!” Twilight said, pasting a happy smile on her face. Focus. Twilight took a calming breath.

“Girls!” Twilight called over the crowd her natural organizations skills shoving her doubts to the back of her mind. (In the overanalyze later folder, to be exact)

Rarity was the first to appear, evidently having been right behind Cadance. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy followed shortly after Rainbow Dash, having taking the slightly longer, (but more socially-acceptable) approach of walking through the crowd, rather than flying over it.

“Spike! Take a note.” Twilight said as Spike appeared from behind Rarity. His tiny legs put him at a disadvantage to crowd maneuvering. “First things first. We need to clean up this mess.”

“Rainbow Dash, could you please remove everything sticking to the walls and windows? And the ceiling. And we need anything broken removed. Just make this place suitable for a wedding again.”

“On it!” Rainbow saluted and flew off, pulling down pieces of goo and pastry as she went. Or at least, trying to. Apparently she had forgotten how sticky the slime was, because it just stuck to her hooves.

Twilight was about to suggest the use of a rag and bucket of water, when a pair of ponies (castle maids, if their uniforms were anything to go by) flew up to help Rainbow.

Twilight shrugged, turning back to her checklist in the making. It looked like they had it under control. On to the next task.

“Rarity, could you help the princesses get ready? Oh, and all the dresses and suits need mending. And I’m pretty sure Cadance would like a new wedding dress.”

Cadance nodded and stepped forward.

“Why of course, darling!” Rarity said, completely overshadowing whatever it was that Cadance had meant to say. “Spike? Be a dear and fetch me my sewing basket, please.”

“Y-yes, Rarity!” Spike said, already running towards the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him.

“If Your Royal Highnesses would follow me?” Rarity started herding the princesses out of the wedding hall. “Let’s get you both looking absolutely fabulous!”

Princess Celestia and Cadance shared a quick smile as they let themselves be led from the hall.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy, “Since you know all about sewing, could you help Rarity, please?”

“Well… uh, I would love to… but… um…” Fluttershy bit her lip and glanced towards the quivering birds huddling just outside.

“After you take care of all the animals, that is.” Twilight said.

Fluttershy gave a grateful smile and nodded before slowly approaching her critter friends.

“Applejack, could you start on the buffet? It looks like most of the food was blown up, what with how much frosting is on the walls.” Twilight frowned, looking around at the confection splattered walls in disbelief.

“On it, sugarcube.” Applejack said, already trotting in the direction of the castle kitchens.

“Pinkie Pie, could you… Pinkie…?” Twilight trailed off as she spotted Pinkie Pie already redecorating the entire castle. …and using her tongue to clean up any stray frosting splatters that Rainbow Dash and her cleaning crew had missed.

“Ok, then.” Twilight said, shaking her head.

Soon everypony in the castle was hard at work getting ready for the royal wedding. Again. Only this time, they were smiling and laughing as they worked for Princess Cadance spread happiness and joy wherever she went.

Everypony that is, but Twilight. As hard as she tried to be happy for Cadance and her brother, and focus on making their wedding perfect, she couldn’t escape the nagging voice in her head.

‘Why didn’t they trust me?’ Twilight wondered as she checked on the buffet with Cadance and Applejack.

Why hasn’t she said anything? Her mind whispered as she consulted with Princess Celestia on the schedule.

“Didn’t even tell me he was getting married.” Twilight grumbled to herself on the way to check on Fluttershy’s progress with the song birds. The constant questions rattling around Twilight’s brain were beginning to irritate her. And the now throbbing headache wasn’t helping either. Twilight could feel her temper rising, until it was a struggle to keep smiling. Not that anypony noticed. They were much too busy with preparations for the royal wedding.

“Just like they were too busy to notice Cadance had been replaced by an evil imposter bent on destroying our world and consuming everyponies’ love.” Twilight muttered to herself as she stood for Rarity to stich the hemline on her gown.

“What was that, darling?” Rarity asked around a mouthful of pins, distracted by trying to find the spool of thread she had originally used for the dress.

“Nothing!” Twilight said, jolted out of her thoughts. “Did you look over there?” Twilight pointed to a random corner of the room.

“Ah! Thank you, darling!” Rarity exclaimed, finding the missing spool under a roll of fabric. Twilight gave a silent sigh as Rarity sewed up her hem with a few quick stitches.

Finally, everything on Twilight’s list had been checked off and everypony was putting on their newly repaired fancy dresses and suits with just an hour until the ceremony.

Everypony that is, besides the bestmare, Twilight Sparkle. She was stalking out of the castle, having left a simple note on her bed stating that she was not going to the wedding.

It’s not like anypony will even notice…

Twilight snorted moodily as she made her way across the castle grounds. She was almost to the castle gates when rapid hoofsteps sounded behind her.

“Twilight! Twilight!” Shining Armor called as he ran to his little sister, levitating the note behind him. His long strides quickly brought him alongside Twilight.

“Hey Twily.” Shining Armor said gently as he walked alongside Twilight. “Where are you going?”

Twilight kept her eyes focused in front of her as she walked.

“Why don’t you want to come to the wedding?” Shining Armor asked, worry evident in his tone. He placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, bringing her to a stop.

“I’d really like you to be there. You’re my sister,” Shining Armor said with a reassuring smile, “and my bestmare!”

That’s not what he said before.

Twilight shook her head and duked away from his hoof. “No.” She said softly. “I’m not.”

“Twilight?” Shining Armor asked, his smile dropping as his brow furrowed in concern.

“You made it pretty clear you didn’t want me at the wedding.” Twilight said bitterly. “In fact, you made it pretty clear you didn’t want to see me at all!” Twilight swiped tears away roughly.

“Twilight, I-“ Shining Armor started, reaching out his hoof.

“No!” Twilight shouted and backed out of his reach, her volume surprising them both. “You forgot about me and didn’t listen to me! Would I even know about the wedding if Princess Celestia hadn’t asked me and my friends to help?!” Twilight shouted. “You never even cared enough to write me a note!”

“Twilight…” A soft voice interrupted her.

Twilight spun around to see Cadance, Princess Celestia and her friends all standing behind her. She was so upset, she hadn’t even heard them approach.

“Twilight,” Cadance repeated gently, “please calm down and talk to us.”

“Twilight, your anger is blinding you.” Princess Celestia said, walking slowly towards her student.

Who was blind?

Twilight’s eyes flashed as she curtly turned her back on her mentor.

“I’m sorry Cadance.” Twilight said. “I tried to plan you a great wedding and I hope you’ll be happy but I… I just can’t.”

A blinding flash of magic enveloped Twilight as she teleported away.