Mistakes and Regrets
Summary: What if there was no changeling queen? What if Twilight found herself unable to attend her only brothers wedding, and distanced from both family and friends? Will they ever forgive her? More importantly, will she ever be able to forgive herself?
Chapter 1: Declaration
"I'm here!" Twilight Sparkle strode into the cathedral, eyes narrowed angrily at the wedding party standing by the pulpit. "And I'm not standing next to her. Neither should you!" She stopped and glared challengingly at Princess Cadence.
Shining Armor stepped closer to his fiance, and felt heat creep up his neck. "I'm sorry," he apologized hastily, "I don't know why she's acting like this." He could feel the constant, nagging pain of the migraine trying to force it's way back with this new complication, and tried to force it back, along with the embaressment he was feeling.
"Maybe we should just ignore her?" Cadence muttered, digging at the carpet to hide her annoyance. Really, why was the mare acting like such a little filly?
"You have to listen to me!" Twilight yelled, grinding her teeth as they continued to stare at her in shock. Couldn't any of them see it?
Fluttershy was the first to move. She hurried down the steps and peered closely at her friend. "Oh goodness, are you okay?" The other mares followed, surrounding the purple unicorn and exchanging worried looks. They had known all the wedding preperations were stressing their friend out, but refusing to be her only brothers best mare was a breakdown none of them had seen coming.
"I'm fine," Twilight snapped, taking a step back and nearly running into Applejack.
"Ya sure about that?" The yellow farm pony asked, before being muzzled by her own hat.
"I've got something to say," Twilight strode past her friends, towards the platform where the others remained standing and staring. Drawing herself up, she shoved a hoof at Cadence. "She's evil."
Shining Armor reacted instinctively, moving to stand in front of his bride, shielding her from his little sister. The other ponies burst into whispers, exchanging more worried glances and wondering if there was a way to stop Twilight before she said something even more damaging.
"She's been horrible to my friends," the unicorn transported herself past her brother, to Cadences side, "She's obviously done something to her bridesmaids," she forced the aliacorn back several paces, off the platform. "And, if that wasn't enough, I saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes go all," she paused, and rolled her eyes about her head for effect. After all, any good spell wouldn't make his eyes move like that. It had to be an evil one! The others watched, speechless, and she turned to smirk at the regal mare, confident she had won.
To her surprise, the princess did not start yelling, nor turn into a horrible Nightmare-moon-esque beast. Instead, tears gathered in the corner of her amethyst eyes, and she took a shallow, shuddery breath.
"Why are you doing this to me?" She asked, her voice broken, as she moved away from the mare and ran from the room.
"Because you're evil!" Twilight wasn't far behind, moving herself across the room in a puff of purple smoke. "Evil!" She yelled again as the aliacorn sprinted down the hall and dissapeared from sight. "And if I don't stop you, you're going to ruin my brothers life!" She turned to trot triumphantly back into the room, expecting praise for vanishing the evil mare, but instead ran into a wall of solid white anger.
Shining Armor had finally moved from the stage, and was glaring down his square muzzle at her. For the first time since she had begun this campaign against Cadence, she felt a seed of doubt deep in her stomach. The white steed had never looked at her like he was right now.
"You want to know why my eyes went all," he paused and rolled his eyes, imitating her, and felt a stab of pain in his temples, "Because ever since I started having to perform my protection spell, I've been getting terrible migraines." He strode around his sister towards the door. "Cadence hasn't been putting spells on me," the Captain of the Guard shoved his face into his sisters, "She's been using her magic to heal me!" Twilight opened her mouth to refute that, but he spoke over her. "And she decided to replace her bridesmaids because she found out the only reason they wanted to be in the wedding was so they could meet Canterlot royalty. And if she hasn't been on her best behavior with your friends," He slammed his hoof down, unable to believe his kind, caring sister was being so petty, "It's because with me being so busy, she's had to make all the decisions about the wedding!"
Twilight saw an opening, and dove for it. "I was just trying to-"
"She's completely stressed out," he cut her off and began to pace, "because it's really important to her that our big day be perfect!" Shining Armor turned and shoved their noses together, preventing her from turning awa. "Something that obviously wasn't important to you." The headache roared with a vengance, and he took a step back. Twilight reached out to touch his forehead, but he sidestepped her and strode out of the cathedral. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and comfort my bride."
He stopped at the door and looked back, ignoring the way the violet unicorns ears drooped. "And you can forget about being my best mare. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't show up to the wedding at all." He nodded to the two guards standing by the doors before galloping from the room, intent on finding his love.
Twilight Sparkle stared after her brother, and felt a small crack begin to form in her heart. Had she jumped to conclusions? Had she completely jumped the moon on this one? Her thoughts roved back to the first time she had experienced Pinkie Sense, and how her constant need to know everything had nearl gotten her and her friends eaten by a hydra. Or the time she had gotten the warning from her future self, and ended up setting the whole town in a panic. Then there was the time she thought she was tardy with a letter to Princess Celestia. That had been a complete disaster.
The unicorn sat back on her haunches, staring at the now empty hallway in front of her. She heard a shuffle of hooves, and turned to look over her should at her friends. They were staring at her with varying degrees of dissapointment and shock.
Applejack was the first to speak. "C'mon, y'all," she adjusted her hat and trotted past Twilight without looking at her, "Lets go check on the princess." The others followed her lead, Spike following close behind.
Heavier hoofsteps reached her ears, and Twilight looked up at her mentor. "I was just-"
"You have a lot to think about," the sun princess snapped as she marched out of the room, following the others to check on her niece. The guards left after her, slamming the large double doors shut with a burst of magic.
Twilight found herself having to blink back tears as she turned away from the doors. "Maybe I was being overprotective," she muttered to herself, wandering to the stage and sitting on the stairs. "I could have gained a sister, but instead," a lump lodged itself in her throat, "Instead, I've just lost a brother." She hid her eyes in her hooves, and cried softly.
That was how the aliacorn found her several hours later.
AN: An idea I had before the show had even finished. The next chapter will be longer, and not just repition of the episode. I just wanted to set the mood and see if anyone was interested in reading more.
Please let me know if you would like to see what happens next!