Twilight trudged angrily through Canterlot Castle. She couldn't believe how dumb her friends were to not notice how rude Princess Cadance was to all of them. She was also agitated that everypony was passing this behavior off as 'wedding stress'. Twilight growled as she made her way past a stained glass window depicting her and her friends purging the nightmare forces from Princess Luna.

'This is the Nightmare Moon incident all over again.' Twilight thought to herself, gritting her teeth. 'Princess Celestia didn't even listen to me back then and once again, she’s still not listening. Granted, in the end she revealed her grand plan of how she had known of Nightmare Moon's return, but I could've been killed along with my friends!' She huffed while moving to another window, this one showing how she and her friends again banished Discord back into his stone prison.

'I have helped in saving Equestria time and time again. There have been times where I faced doubt, but I have always come out on top'. Twilight thought proudly.
'But this time, I can't help but think that something is very wrong. I mean, I just can feel it! Cadance's magical aura is different somehow.'

Twilight began pacing around in the grand hall, trying to figure out what the change was.'The magic aura of an Alicorn or an Unicorn generally becomes purer and brighter based on their level in mastering magic. However, Cadance's aura has somehow turned from crystal blue to swamp green. Something is definitely wrong and I'm going to get to the bottom of this with or without the help of my friends-'

BONK!

"OWW! MY HEAD!" Twilight cried out in pain as she started rubbing her head, glaring at the column she had just walked into.

"Are you ok miss?" A dashing young stallion asked as he walked up to her. Twilight began to stare at the incoming male, quickly glancing him over. He wore a coat of the lightest and palest grey amber, and his mane seemed to have been kissed by the ocean itself, creating two shades of ocean blue. His eyes were also something else, they were two orbs of cornflower blue as gracefully looked down at her. Twilight was in awe of this stallion's handsomeness. Sure, she had seen stallions before, but this one had something about him that she wanted to dive into.

"Umm, Miss?" the stallion asked again, this time stretching his hoof to help her up.

"Ye-ye-yes, I-I-I am f-fine, thanks." she stuttered, taking the offered hoof and raising herself from the ground. She wobbled a bit as her body threatened to fall, but was held by a firm muscular hoof wrapped around her shoulders.

"Okay then....I'm pretty sure you've got a concussion, let's get you to the castle nurse and have her look at that head for you." the stallion said, supporting her weight and helping her to walk to the nurse.

†***†***†***†***†***†***†***†

"There, that will do the trick." the nurse, a sky blue unicorn mare with a white cross for a cutie mark and a head of cream mane declared, "That was quite a nasty concussion you had there Twilight, I'm surprised you didn't go into a coma." the nurse said while she began attending to another patient, “Just remember not to drink any alcohol or you might get sick, and you wouldn't want that with the wedding coming up." The nurse finished.

"Thanks Nurse White Cross, I don't drink, so that won't be a problem." Twilight said, walking out to the infirmary exit. 'Ugh, I'm so hungry. I might as well go get some food and get some sleep.' Twilight thought as she went down the hall, only to spot the same stallion who brought her to Nurse White Cross. 'I better go say thanks to him, it would be rude not too.' she thought, walking towards the stallion.

"Hello there. I just wanted to say thanks for helping me earlier, I really appreciate it" Twilight said with a small smile.

"It's a pleasure miss. That and I was just doing my duty as part of the Canterlot Royal Guard." the stallion stated, nodding his head lightly.

"That would explain the armor and helmet." Twilight smiled sheepishly

"How's your head by the way?"

"Its feeling better thanks to you." Twilight replied, blushing a bit as she looked him over, still admiring his form.

"I'm Flash Sentry by the way", Flash said, extending his hoof to her.

"Nice to meet you Flash Sentry, I'm Twilight Sparkle." she said smiling, taking Flash's hoof and shaking it.

The two conversed as the evening went on, making small talk about things that interested them, that and talking about family and friends. Twilight found out that Flash Sentry had been working in the Royal Guard for four years now and that he had moved to Canterlot from Trottingham with his family when he was a foal. She learned that Flash was quite kind and loved, well known for helping those in need. Along the conversation, Twilight too exchanged thoughts about herself, which Flash seemed to drink up. Flash later on that evening, invited Twilight to have dinner with him just as friends, as Twilight hadn't gotten a chance to eat anything due to the incident and then them talking. He invited Twilight to try a new restaurant that opened a few months ago. According to him, they had the best food in all of Canterlot. She gracefully took the offer and went to the restaurant, chattering on as if they had known each other all their lives as they traveled to the location. As they got there and received their food, their conversation continued.

"So Twilight, how is the wedding plans coming?" Flash asked, stuffing his face full with a Dandelion and Daisy sandwich.

"I guess it's going great, though the wedding is not for another two days." Twilight answered, taking a sip of her orange juice, anger plainly on her face as well as her voice.

"Is there something you want to talk about Twilight? You sure don’t see happy." Flash asked, concerned. Judging by her reaction, he knew something was wrong.

"I'm fine, honest. It's just that Princess Cadance has been acting sour since I got here. I don't know, but I think something is up with her." Twilight replied, resting her head on the table.

"I thought I was the only one who noticed her behavior change." Flash said in a low voice, only allowing Twilight to hear it. This statement however, caused Twilight to momentarily raise her head from the table.

"What do you mean Flash?"

"Well, between you and I, Princess Cadance and I are great friends. That is, until a few weeks ago when she went on a royal visit to Maretonia. She came back with a nasty attitude. Well, at least to the guards and the maids around the castle. She didn't even notice me, but I didn't say anything to anypony because just like everypony else, I brushed it off as wedding stress" Flash said, hanging his head."You’re the first pony so far who has raised the question, ‘What happened to the Princess Cadence that I knew and adore?’” Flash added in a somber tone.

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. Could this be the breakthrough she was waiting for? 'I need to speak with Princess Celestia right now, she has to listen to me.' Twilight thought giddily.

"Come on Flash, we need to go talk to the Princess!" With that statement, Twilight grabbed Flash and blinked away to the royal courtyard.

†***†***†***†***†***†***†***†***†

Twilight and Flash made their way through Canterlot Castle, stealthily navigating their way until they came to the residential area of the palace. It was now quite late in the night and most ponies were already asleep except for a few guards and a handful of resident nobles going about their business. The two were making their way further down into the hall to get to Celestia's bedchamber when they spotted Shining Armor and Cadance entering their own bedchamber. They soon noticed that they had left the large door slightly ajar.

"I thought I made it specifically clear that you would not wear that to our wedding!" Cadence growled as Twilight and Flash quietly made their way over to the ajar door in order to get a closer look.

"And I told you that this chest piece was given to me by my uncle North Star when I took over for him as the Captain of the Royal Guard! I will wear it with pride!" Shining Armor shot back.

"Are you disagreeing with me?!" Cadance asked, agitation written all over her features.

"Yes, I suppose I am!" Shining Armor said, turning his back.

"You'll regret that decision." Cadence smiled crookedly, charging her horn and firing a powerful blast of green magic at Shining Armor's head, knocking him out temporarily.

"NO!!" Twilight cried out loudly, making 'Cadance' whirl around quickly, a smug look gracing her delicate face. "What have you done to my brother?!" Twilight bellowed angrily, her horn flared with magic. Cadance could easily see she was threatening to launch an attack.

"Oh nothing really, you possessive little brat. I'm simply making him obey my every command." Cadance said slyly, her eyes glowing a sickly neon green color as she began walking slowly towards Twilight.

"Not another step you.....whatever you are." Flash said, harshly jumping in front of Twilight. His wings flared up, preparing to attack if need be.

Cadance chuckled at the scene. "Oh please, what does a pathetic little pegasus pose against me?!" with that said, she lit her horn and flung Flash Sentry against the wall, his body landing with a heavy thud. Twilight quickly ran over to Flash, helping him up as she whipped around to face Cadance.

"What are you?!" Twilight shouted, standing guard in front of Flash. This only caused Cadance to cackle more.

"You’ll find out in due time." Cadence said as she coolly fired a powerful green blast at Twilight. The lavender unicorn met the spell head on with one of her own. This caused Cadance to become even more agitated and she began pumping more power into the spell. However, Twilight only gritted her teeth and stood her ground as she kept fighting the spell.

"How are you able to resist my spell?! No unicorn, pegasi or earth pony can! Not even your brother could resist my power!" Cadance was clearly pissed now.

Twilight couldn't keep off Cadance's spell for long even though she was powerful. This creature she was up against was clearly powerful, so she did the only thing she could. Smiling slyly, Twilight met the creature's eyes and said in a determined tone "You may be powerful, whoever you are, but you missed one single detail....I AM A FLARE!" with that, the room was bathed in a glowing purple light. When the room returned to it’s normal lighting, Twilight and Flash were gone, leaving Cadance stunned.

Author's Notes:

Please pardon my word spacing in this chapter as my editor and I came across this issue and are trying to resolve it. However the other chapters are not like this one. Again I apologize for the issue.