"And you can forget about being Best Mare! In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't show up to the wedding at all!"

Twilight Sparkle felt her heart bleed out onto the floor as her brother stormed out. She fell back onto her hind legs and curled her tail around her body. How could things have gone so wrong?

She dared a glance behind her, to look at her friends. They must be so disappointed in me.....

Applejack felt her heart swell with pity, any anger she had diminishing as Twilight looked at her with sad, watery eyes. She couldn't stay mad at her friend, not when she was looking so miserable.

Heaving a deep sigh, she walked over to Twilight and sat down next to her. Twilight flinched and turned her head, as if expecting a beating.

"Hey," Applejack said gently, patting Twilight's back gently. "It'll be okay, sugarcube."

"I messed up big time, didn't I?" Twilight asked miserably.

Applejack sighed, and said plainly, "Yeah, Ah won't lie. Ya kinda went a mite too far back there."

"I could have gained a sister," Twilight moaned, her eyes filling with tears. "But instead.....I lost a brother."

Fat tears rolled down Twilight's cheeks as she sang:

He was my
Big Brother Best Friend Forever,
But now we'll never
Do anything together....

As Twilight began to sob, the others found they couldn't bear to see their friend in such despair, and any anger they felt was gone almost immediately. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy ran up to Twilight and hugged her as tightly as they could without suffocating her.

"Come now, darling," Rarity said softly, magically levitating a handkerchief over to Twilight. "It's not the end of the world. We all know you had only the best of intentions." She waited until after Twilight had finished blowing her nose loudly before continuing. "And deep down, I'm certain Shining Armor knows it, too."

"Yeah." Rainbow agreed as she flew in front of Twilight. "So you messed up. You said it yourself; he's your "Big Brother Best Friend Forever." He's not gonna disown you over a temper tantrum." Dash frowned as she crossed her arms. "And if he does, he's a big dummy."

Twilight wiped her eyes. "I was so mean to Cadence......how could I not see how much stress she was under?...."

"But Twilight," Fluttershy interjected. "Weren't you under stress, too?"

"Yeah. I mean, Shining did kinda spring this on you at the last minute." Rainbow added. "And we all know that you don't really work well under pressure."

Twilight blushed and slowly nodded.

"And Shining has been casting that shield spell for Celestia knows how long." Rarity said, gesturing with her hoof for emphasis.

"Three weeks, at least. With very few breaks in between." Celestia said helpfully behind the group.

"Er...yes. Thank you, Princess." Rarity blushed before turning back to Twilight. "So it's easy to imagine how exhausted he must have been." She sighed and placed her hooves on her hips. "Honestly, weddings seem to bring out the absolute worst in ponies. Compared to others, Princess Cadence was an absolute saint."

"So...that's why you guys didn't complain..." Twilight muttered, even more ashamed than ever.

Rarity smiled sadly. "Yes, darling. Though perhaps we could have made that more clear."

Seeing that they were getting off track, Applejack interjected, "The point is, Cadance is stressed, Shinin's stressed, yer stressed. All that stress just kinda hit a boilin' point an' y'all snapped at each other. It happens to the best of us, sugarcube."

Twilight raised her head and look at the others, who were all nodding in agreement. Though it didn't completely take away the shame and embarrassment, she was feeling a little better.

"Look, just give him some time to cool off." Applejack continued, placing a sympathetic hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "An' then after a little while, we'll all sit down an' have a nice little talk. You'll see. You be Best Mare again, and tomorrow, we'll all throw the best weddin' ever!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie squealed, squeezing Twilight's side. "No party would be complete without you, Twilight! Now turn that frown upside down!"

Pinkie's enthusiasm, as always, was contagious, and Twilight felt the corners of her mouth turns upwards. "Thanks, guys."

"No problem, egghead." Rainbow Dash said, giving Twilight a light punch in the arm. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry. Whaddaya say we go to Joe's?"

"Thanks. But if it's alright with you guys, I'd like to be alone." Twilight said.

Her friends gave her a sympathetic smile, and with one last hug from Spike, they all turned and left. Twilight felt a familiar warmth beside her, and she turned to look at her mentor.

"Take this time to reflect and compose yourself, my student." Celestia said wisely. "Fear not. This too, shall pass."

And with that, she swept regally out of the room, and Twilight found herself alone.

After a long time, Twilight sighed and stood up. She began the long trek back to her room when she found somepony blocking her away.

It was Cadance. She smiled sweetly upon seeing Twilight.

Twilight cringed at the sight of her old foalsitter, shame filling her once more. "Cadence....I'm so sorry...."

Cadence looked to her left. Then to her right. Then she leaned into Twilight's face and snarled, "You will be."

Twilight jumped back as Cadence's eyes flashed green, and before she could run, a green light surrounded her and she felt herself sinking. The last thing she saw before everything went black was the evil grin on Cadance's face.

Author's Notes:

Yeah. Doing "Canterlot Wedding" now.

About the only thing I liked about that episode was "This Day Aria."

Stay tuned for more.