Chapter 97: A Canterlot Wedding Part 1
A week passed since the disaster with the cake pin the train and when they told the Cake's what had happened, they were more than disappointed that the cake was ruined, but were very happy that it still won first prize once it was combined with the other bakers desserts, making up what had happened. The sun was about to rise to start the day, but in the fillies room at Sweet Apple Acres, Scootaloo was having what she believed to be a nightmare, curled up in a ball and whining as she went through the nightmare. She was running down the hall, fog obscuring her view until she felt like she was falling down through the air, screaming as she fell until she found herself in a massive room in Canterlot castle where there were ruined decorations and shattered windows, but in the center of the room was what shocked her the most.
At the center of the room was her brother and all their friends, but with May underneath Spyro's wing, picking her up and the two smiling at one another as if they were friends again before the scene then shifted, a flurry of lights and images assaulting her all at once, seeing a yellow green unicorn with a golden yellow mane, daggers, and a heart flying into the air and it shattering to pieces, Scootaloo watching as it shattered into multiple pieces before shifting to darkness. She tried to look around to see what she could see, only to find nothing but darkness until she saw a platform coming towards her, falling towards it and landing on the platform, revealing it was the same one that Spyro was on when he first got his powers, looking around until she saw her brother in his human form, his back towards her.
"Spyro... what's going on?" Scootaloo asked. "Where are we?"
He didn't answer as he then started to turn around, horrifying Scootaloo as she saw his eyes were now pure yellow as darkness covered his body, claws growing out of the tips of his fingers, snarling like a beast until he lunged at her, prompting her to scream in pure terror and fall out of bed, hitting the ground as she flailed around while trapped underneath the blanket, waking everyone in the house up and running to the fillies room to see what was wrong. Spyro was the first to burst through the door and see Scootaloo flailing around under the blanket and rushed over, grabbing her and making her scream more before he removed the cover and held her.
"Scoots, Scoots!" Spyro exclaimed, trying to wake her up. "Wake up! You're having a nightmare! Wake up!"
Scootaloo then opened her eyes, breathing heavily as she shook in fear, pushing back to see Spyro was holding her before hugging him, crying as she hugged him, which he hugged her back and patted her on the back, trying to calm her down as everyone walked in.
"Oh Spyro!" Scootaloo said, tears still rolling down her face. "It was horrible! I... I..."
"It's ok Scoots." Spyro said, still hugging her. "It was just a nightmare. Nothing to worry about."
"B-but it felt so real." Scootaloo said. "I-I was in Canterlot, everyone was in Canterlot, and... May was there. You were picking her up... a pony... green coat... daggers... a heart..."
Spyro suddenly knew what she was talking about, his own heart dropping as Scootaloo didn't have a nightmare, but a vision from the Force, showing her what is going to happen.
"It's alright Scoots, you just had a bad dream, that's all." Spyro said, setting her down. "Now you and Apple Bloom go downstairs and get something to eat. You got school today."
After wiping away the tears, she and Apple Bloom walked out of the room and made their way downstairs, followed by Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, but Applejack saw the look on his face and knew something was wrong, walking to him to understand what was going on.
"Hun, what does she mean by all that?" Applejack asked.
"She had a vision." Spyro replied, confusing her. "The Force can show visions of what is to come before it happens, giving a Jedi a warning of what is to come."
"And she had herself a vision of the future?" Applejack asked. "Why tell her it was a nightmare?"
"She's still young." Spyro replied. "She isn't ready to try looking through the Force to see the future. She still needs training."
"There's somethin' ya'll ain't telling me." Applejack said, raising an eyebrow. "Ah know when yer hiding something sugarcube. What aren't ya telling me?"
"AJ, sometimes it's best not to know the future and live your life worry free." Spyro replied, giving her a peck on the cheek.
He then walked out of the room and made his way downstairs to get something to eat, but Applejack was certain Spyro was keeping something from them, knowing him better than he knew himself. She walked out of the room and followed Spyro downstairs to join them for breakfast while wondering what Spyro was keeping from her and for what purpose would he be keeping the information from them. Meanwhile at Canterlot, preparations were being made for the wedding that was going to take place, decorating the ballroom for the reception and he caterers were working on setting up the food for everyone to enjoy after the ceremony was complete, but in the ballroom, a corridor opened and Larxene walked through, taking the form of a green unicorn wearing the organizations jacket with a golden yellow mane.
"Ugh, disgusting!" Larxene said, looking herself over. "How does the prince go about like this?"
"Hey!" A guard shouted, getting her attention. She looked over and saw that three unicorn guards approached her, their spears pointed at her as they approached. "State your name and business here!?"
"My business is my own." Larxene replied, getting ready for a fight. "And my name is-"
"There you are." A mare's voice said. Larxene turned her head to see who it was and saw a pink alicorn, her wings faded purple at the end, her mane a trinity of colors, which consisted of cream, pink, and purple with light purple colored eyes and a crystal heart shaped cutie mark. "I've been looking everywhere for you. I told you not to wonder off with the castle on high alert."
"Princess, you know this pony?" The guard asked.
"Of course I do." The princess replied. "I invited her to help with preparations for the wedding tomorrow. She's gonna help make it 'extra' special." The guards looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders, lifting their spears up and walking away, from the princess and her guest as the two fo them walked away. "It seems I found you in the Knick of time."
"Thanks, but I don't need your help." Larxene replied.
"Oh trust me, you needed it." The princess said as a dark smile appeared on her face. "After all, the other one said there'd be somepony else who would arrive today."
"Other one?" Larxene asked.
They walked down the halls and past some guards, who were eyeing Larxene, some suspicious of her, others trying to get a good look at her until they reached the guest room and inside, Larxene saw a blue unicorn mare with a red mane sitting in a chair and drinking some of the beverages that was provided for them, looking over to them and smiled.
"About time you showed up." May said, setting the glass down. "I was starting to worry you might have gotten captured already."
"You!?" Larxene exclaimed, shocked to see her. "How'd you get here before me!?"
"My little secret." May replied, lying back in the chair. "And it looks like you met our mutual friend."
"Guess I did." Larxene replied looking up at the princess. "So what are you doing here anyway? Come to enjoy some wedding cake or are you here to just fail again?"
"Much as I'd like to destroy you Organization weaklings, we have a common enemy." May replied, getting up and walking to her allies. "The prince will soon arrive to oversee preparations for the wedding and we need to be ready for him and his friends and I doubt either of us are ready to face him alone."
"So you suggest an alliance then?" Larxene asked.
"Yes, I do." May replied. "I believe that together we can destroy the prince and his little friends."
"And how do you propose to do that?" Larxene asked. "The prince is too powerful and when he combines with his friends, he's near invincible."
"That's where our new friend comes in." May said, looking to the princess. "He loves the members of his herd and it's that love that will be his down fall."
"Right." Larxene replied, looking to the princess. "And what can you exactly do miss...?"
The princes just smiled as she closed her eyes, opening them again to reveal they were glowing green, surprising the Savage Nymph enough to cause her to stagger backwards.
"Just call me Mi Amore Cadenza." The princess replied, her eyes turning back to light purple as the doors to her room closed.
In Ponyville, it was a beautiful day out and the girls all decided to have a picnic in the park with Spyro, enjoying the cloudless sky and having a great time outside with no issues or drama to worry about, enjoying the peace and quiet. While the girls were conversing and eating some sandwiches that were brought to the picnic, Spyro was meditating, wanting to see what Scootaloo saw and saw exactly what she did, but went farther than she did as he saw the city of Canterlot protected by a barrier, preventing something from entering, but then suddenly it cracked and shattered, allowing what was trying to get in to enter the city and cause mass panic, moving into the room where what appeared to be a wedding was taking place and he saw what appeared to be Captain Shining Armor and next to him was some kind of creature with a dark carapace shell with bug like wings, holes in her hooves, legs, and horn, and a blue mane made of the same stuff as her wings. He watched as she drained some kind of energy from Shining Armor, sensing it was something strong and powerful, wanting to understand more, he moved towards it to see what it was she was draining from him, but couldn't determine what it was.
"What do you think Spyro darling?" Rarity asked, breaking his concentration and looking over to her to see she was wearing a yellow sun hat. "I was saying it's a lovely day, don't you agree?"
"Oh, yes, it is." Spyro said, taking a sandwich and taking a bite. "Very lovely."
"Spyro, you ok?" Twilight asked, noticing he was distracted. "You seem... I don't know... not yourself."
"Sorry Twiley, just... thinking." Spyro replied, biting the sandwich.
"About what?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Before he could answer, Spike came running up to them as if it was something very important.
"Twi... I... I... I..." Spike said, breathing heavily. "Phew... just... g-give me... a minute... let me just-"
His cheeks then puffed up and he then belched up a message from the princess, Twilight picking it up to read what it had to say.
"My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight read, getting their attention. "I'm sure you are all excited for the upcoming wedding that is to take place here in Canterlot tomorrow." Everyone looked at her in confusion, not knowing what she was talking about. "Wedding? What is she talking about?"
"Beats me." Spyro replied, though he did know about it through the Force and from the Time Stone.
"I will be presiding over the ceremony, but I would like you and all your friends to help with preparations for this wonderful occasion." Twilight read. "Fluttershy, I would like for you and your song bird choir to provide the music for the ceremony."
"Oh my goodness." Fluttershy said. "This is such an honor."
"Pinkie Pie, I can think of nopony better than you to hold the reception." Twilight said, reading the letter. Pinkie then started to do some cart wheels and cheered, Spyro moving the cake out o the way before she could ruin it. "Applejack, I would like for you to be in charge of the catering for the reception."
"Yes, finally!" Applejack exclaimed. "Them high society ponies will get a taste of some real good cookin'!"
"Pfft, you guys can have the wedding." Rainbow Dash said, yawning. "Weddings are so boring."
"Rainbow Dash, I would very much appreciate it for you to perform a Sonic Rainboom as the bride and groom complete their 'I do's.'"
When Twilight said that, Rainbow Dash stuffed her hoof into her mouth mid yawn after hearing the princess ask her to perform a Sonic Rainboom for the engaged couple.
"I take it back, count me in!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "This wedding is going to be the most awesomest wedding ever!"
"Rarity, you will be responsible for preparing the dresses for the bride and bridesmaids." Twilight said. Rarity started to stammer after being told she was going to be in charge of making the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids, delirious about being given such an important task as she fainted on the grass. "Spyro, I know your powers will be of great benefit as I'd like for you to help out however you can with preparations and with security."
"Security?" Spyro asked. "They expecting an attack or something?"
"Well it is a royal wedding Spyro." Twilight said. "Chances are, somepony might try and capture the bride and groom or try to don them harm."
"Hmm, well when you put it like that, I can handle security for the wedding." Spyro responded. "Nothing will get past me."
"Lastly, Twilight, you have the most important role of all, making sure everything goes as planned." Twilight said. "See you all very soon, Princess Celestia." She then turned the letter around to see if there was more to the letter but found nothing. "But, I don't understand. Who's getting married?"
"Oh, uh... sorry." Spike said, pulling a scroll from behind his back. "I should have given you this first."
"Ya think?" Spyro asked, Twilight rolling her eyes a she took the scroll, unrolling it to see what was written.
"Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Mi Amore Cadenza and... MY BROTHER!?" Twilight exclaimed, nearly screaming as she read it.
Spyro was taking another bite of his sandwich when he suddenly inhaled, choking on the sandwich before punching himself in the gut and spitting it out, nailing a raccoon and knocking it into a trashcan.
"Your brother's getting married!?" Spyro asked in excitement.
"Congratulations Twilight!" Applejack said, shaking her hoof. "That there is great news!"
"Yeah, great news." Twilight said, rolling the message up and tossing it away. "That I got from a wedding invitation. Not from my brother, but from a piece of paper! Thanks a lot Shining Armor! I mean, isn't it too much trouble to come down and tell me personally instead of with a piece of parchment." She then picked up a sandwich, which funny enough looked like it had a face, and used it to talk, trying to impersonate his voice. "Hey Twilight, thought you should know I'm making one of the biggest and most important decisions in my life. Ph wait, never mind, I'll send you an invite instead because I'm an idiot who hasn't enough time to bother." She then dropped the sandwich, Spyro sensing her anger and frustration grow. "Mi Amore Cadenza, who in Equestria is that!?"
"Um, Twilight, you ok?" Fluttershy asked. "Do you have a problem with your brother?"
"No, no I don't have an issue with him." Twilight replied. "It's just we were so close when we were foals. He's my B.B.B.F.F." Everyone looked at her in confusion, wondering what she was talking about and wondering what she meant by that. "Big Brother Best Friend Forever!?" When she explained what the abbreviation meant, it made a whole lot more sense to them, but this only made Twilight sigh sadly, turning to look at Canterlot. "Before I came to Ponyville and learned all about friendship, Shining Armor was the only pony I ever accepted as a friend."
Sad music then started to play as Twilight looked at Canterlot, stretching out her hoof for a bird to land on and nuzzled it, the bird flying away.
[Twilight Sparkle]
When I was just a filly, I found it rather silly
To see how many other ponies I could meet
I had my books to read, didn't know that I would ever need
Other ponies to make my life complete
But there was one colt that I cared for
I knew he would be there for me
My big brother, best friend forever!
Like two peas in a pod, we did everything together
He taught me how to fly a kite (Best friend forever!)
We never had a single fight (We did everything together!)
We shared our hopes, we shared our dreams
I miss him more than I realized
It seems.
[Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Spyro]
Your big brother, best friend forever
Like two peas in a pod, you did everything together.
[Twilight Sparkle]
And though he's, oh, so far away
I hoped that he would stay
My big brother best friend
Forever
Forever.
A tear then rolled down her cheek as she finished her song, sensing how unhappy she was and how much she missed her brother. He walked over to the sad unicorn and wrapped his wings around her, nuzzling her as the tears rolled down.
"Hey, chin up my little bookworm." Spyro said. "I'm sure he probably misses you after being here in Ponyville for so long. Plus, you should be happy for your brother, not every day you get to marry a princess... whoever this Mi Amore Cadenza is."
"Yeah, he's pretty special alright." Twilight said. "They don't make anypony the captain of the royal guard for nothing."
"Wait, let me get this straight." Rarity said. "You're telling me that we are going to be helping out with the wedding for not only a princess... but a captain of the royal guard!?"
"I guess we are." Twilight replied.
Rarity then suddenly started to rock back and forth and stammer again, Twilight bringing over a pillow for rarity to pass out on from excitement as the others cheered excitedly for the upcoming wedding, but Spyro could still sense how mad she was at her brother and couldn't blame her, but Spyro looked to Canterlot and saw the barrier around it, breathing a sad sigh as he starred at it. After a little while, the group was on the next train to Canterlot and most of them were chatting away excitedly, even Rosy and the crusaders were excited to come along as classes for tomorrow were cancelled for all the fillies and colts so that all on Ponyville could attend the wedding that is to take place tomorrow, but Twilight was still mad at her brother for not letting her know about the wedding herself, but Spyro was sitting in his seat, starring out at the window at the city, but then felt someone else was unhappy, looking around and saw Scootaloo looked upset as her friends were having fun and were excited. He got up from his seat and walked over to her, sitting down next to her and putting his hoof on her shoulder.
"Hey Scoots, what's bothering you?" Spyro asked.
"Oh, it's nothing." Scootaloo replied. "Just..."
"Still thinking about that nightmare?" Spyro asked, his little sister nodding her head. "Scoots, I was wrong to lie to you that it was a nightmare. It was actually a vision."
"A vision?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yes Scoots, a vision." Spyro replied. "Those who use the Force can look through it to see glimpses of the future."
"Really!?" Scootaloo asked. "Cool!"
"Sometimes, but not all the time." Spyro replied. "What you saw was a vision of what's to come little sis. But don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens to you guys... to any of you."
"You promise?" Scootaloo asked.
"I promise." Spyro replied, hugging his little sister.
The locomotive chugged along through the mountain and after a little while reached the beautiful city of Canterlot and passed through a barrier, which seemed to have been put up as a precaution for anything trying to get in, passing through it and gasping in surprise at the weird feeling. When the train came out a halt in the station, everyone got off and there were guards everywhere around the station and along the streets, patrolling the area and looking out for any kind of trouble.
"Wow, what's with all the guards?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Probably just a precaution." Rarity said. "Royal weddings bring out the strangest ponies."
At that moment, Pinkie suddenly sneezed and confetti flew out of her nose, making Spyro shake his head while smiling at her.
"Or somepony like Pinkie Pie here." Spyro said, making everyone laugh. "Anyway, better go and find Shining Armor and his fiancé. If he's getting married and captain of the guard, he and I should coordinate how best to strengthen security."
"I'm coming with you." Twilight said, storming to him. "I got a few words to say to him. First thing I'm going to do is give him a piece of my mind before I kill him."
Twilight then stormed away from Spyro and her friends, making them worry for her as she trotted away from them. Spyro then caught up to her and the two of them walked together towards the palace, passing by some of the other guards and some of the nobles who knew Spyro from his visit until they reached the castle, where they saw Captain Armor was giving orders to some of his men as they approached the wall.
"Oh, there's your brother now." Spyro said.
"Yeah I see him." Twilight said, trotting faster to the wall. "Shining Armor! I have something to say to you bonehead!"
As she said it, the guards all drew their spears and pointed them at her, which Spyro instinctively swiped his hoof to the left and the spears all went flying backwards, some falling to the ground, others sticking in the dirt right as the captain looked over and saw them.
"Twiley, Spyro!" Shining Armor said, rushing to them.
In the rooms above, the princess and her allies were looking outside of the windows overlooking the guards and saw Spyro and Twilight approaching, the princess smirking as she saw the hybrid.
"That's the prince?" Princess Cadenza asked. "A hybrid?"
"Don't let his looks deceive you." May said. "He's far more powerful than you think he is."
"I'll believe it when I see it." The princess replied. "Better get down there and say hello to my future sister-in-law and her little friend."
The princess then walked down the hall and left the Nobody with the corrupted Keyblade bearer, returning their gaze to the two guests as they approached.
"She'd not taking our warning seriously." Larxene said. "She think's we're over exaggerating."
"Well, I know one way to show her to take us seriously." May said, raising her hoof as multiple dark crystals appeared.
Shining Armor ran down the stairs and went to his sister, happy to see her after a long time.
"Hey kiddo, I missed you!" Shining Armor said, trying to hug her, but she pulled away, furious at him.
"How dare you!" She said, Shining Armor flinching. "How could you not tell me in person you were getting married? Why'd I have to find out from a piece of paper? I'm your sister for ponies sake!"
"Twilight, I'm so sorry." Shining Armor said. "But it's not my fault. Princess Celestia has ordered a drastic and major increase in security."
"Yeah, because there's a big wedding coming up!" Twilight exclaimed, pushing past her brother. "Maybe you've heard about it!?"
"Twilight, the extra guards is not for the wedding." Shining Armor replied. "A threat has been made against Canterlot."
"A threat?" Spyro asked. "What kind of threat and from who?"
"No one knows who sent the threat." Shining Armor replied. "All we know is they are planning an attack against the city. That's why we've bolstered our defenses, increased the guard, and put this barrier up." He stepped back and charged up the magic in his horn, releasing a hot pink magical aura like Twilight's into the air and hitting the dome, strengthening it's power while causing him to get a headache. "The burden of protecting Canterlot rests on my shoulders. I need to stay focused on my duties if I'm going to protect this place."
The three of them walked up the stairs and to the balcony, overlooking the dozens to hundreds of guards walking about the palace grounds, patrolling the entire area.
"Ok, you make a good point." Twilight said. "You have a very important job to protect Canterlot and keep this Force Field up. But still, you could have at least sent me a letter letting me know you're getting married. Am I not that important to you anymore?"
"Don't say that Twilight." Spyro said, wrapping his wings around her. "I can sense he genuinely loves you and thinks the world about you."
"Your colt friend is right Twiley." Shining Armor said with a smile. "You're my little sister, you will always be important to me. But I can understand if you don't want to be my best mare now."
"Wait, seriously!?" Twilight asked excitedly. "You want me to be your best mare!? I'd be honored. But I'm still mad at you for marrying somepony I don't even know! When in all of Equestria did you meet this Mi Amore Cadenza!?"
"Twilight, how could you forget your old foal sitter?" Shining Armor asked, confusing them. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is Cadence."
"Wait, cadence!?" Twilight asked with pure excitement in her voice. "The Cadence!? The greatest foal sitter in all of Equestria!?"
"Sounds like somepony's now happy four the wedding." Spyro said, smirking at her.
"You kidding!?" Twilight asked. "Cadence is only the most amazing foal sitter in all of Equestria! Why, while I was still a filly, we use to play all the time when I wasn't studying! She's beautiful, caring, and very, very kind."
"Sounds like somepony we already know in the herd, doesn't it?" Spyro asked, nuzzling Twilight and making her giggle.
"I'm serious Spyro." Twilight said, getting out from under his wings. "Why, she and I were so close, we made our own little greeting when we saw one another."
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything important." A voice said.
Spyro turned to see who it was that was talking to them and saw it was Cadence, Twilight running up to her excitedly, Spyro walking up to her to greet her, but he then suddenly stopped, sensing that something wasn't right and looked around, but found nothing. He then turned to the princess and he could sense what he was feeling coming from her, immediately on alert as he approached.
"Cadence." Twilight exclaimed, staring her little greeting, which seemed more like a dance to him. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"
"What are you doing?" Cadence asked.
This was an immediate red flag for Spyro for Spyro as according to Twilight, she and Cadence made up that little greeting and since she was Twilight's favorite babysitter and Cadence was the one foal she liked to babysit, it seemed to him like it should have been something Cadence should remember by heart.
"Cadence, it's me, Twilight." Twilight said.
"Uh huh." She replied, walking past her to Shining Armor.
She then passed by Spyro and she brushed her shoulder against Spyro, that one second was more than enough for him to feel a large amount of darkness in her and a very cold feeling from her, now knowing something was up. Shining a armor wrapped his foreleg around his bride to be's neck, the two seemingly smiling as they enjoyed one another's company, but Spyro could sense that wasn't the case with Cadenza, leering at her.
"Well, I gotta get back to my station." Shining Armor said. "But Cadence will be checking in with you girls to see how everything is 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." Cadence replied, a dark smile on her face.
"Who's that?" Twilight asked, pointing up.
Everyone looked up to see who she was talking about, finding a pony on the roof of a nearby tower, but Spyro's eyes were stronger than their's and knew who it was, seeing the blue coat and red mane and some dark crystals in her hoof, bringing them back to throw them.
"It's May!" Spyro shouted.
May threw the crystals to the ground and they flew quickly to the ground, landing in the middle of the field of guards, who all saw the crystals and watched as they sunk into the ground. A minute later, a Grublin Troll burst out from the ground, followed by Axe orcs and some Grublin flies as they got their weapons out for a fight.
"Everypony, battle stations!" Shining Armor shouted. "Engage and-"
Spyro didn't wait for him to finish giving orders as he jumped off the balcony and he released a wave of red hot flames, engulfing the flies and axe orcs and forcing them to run away trying to put the fire out, which the Troll just shook the flames off and looked up, but then got slammed in the head by Spyro's fist, destroying it's head in one punch and making it crumble to the ground, surprising Shining Armor and Cadence as their jaws dropped and their eyes were wide with surprise. When the orcs got the flames out, they ran at Spyro, but he just closed his eyes and lifted his hoof, using the Force to lift the orcs up before slamming them to the ground a few times, crushing them in an instant and making them crumble. the Grublin Flies then surrounded him to get some hits in, but Spyro just smiled as he raised his tail and slammed it onto the ground, creating a wave that knocked the Grublins in the air and jumped up, releasing a massive amount of electricity from his body and hitting all the Grublins in one his, frying them in an instant.
"Wow, that was awesome!" Shining Armor exclaimed, getting over his shock, but Cadence was still in disbelief. "Twiley, why didn't you tell me he was that powerful!?"
"I thought I did?" Twilight replied, smiling at her brother as she made the joke.
"He's... unbelievable." Cadence said, looking up, but May was gone. "Excuse me a moment. I need to... powder my nose."
"Oh, alright dear." Shining Armor said, nuzzling her. "And Twilight, we'll let you get to work. I'm going to speak with Spyro about some security updates."
Shining Armor walked away from his bride to be as Cadence walked past twilight, leaving the Lavender mare alone as she made her way to her room. Once there, she rushed in and closed it quickly, locking it as she saw Larxene and May sitting at the table, the blue unicorn mare looking upset while Larxene was just leaning back and resting her eyes, hooves behind her head as she rested.
"You weren't kidding when you said he was powerful." Cadence said, walking to them.
"I warned you." May said. "He's very powerful and he has the brains to back up his brawn and magic."
"Brains?" Cadence asked.
"He's not stupid 'princess.'" May replied. "He can solve just about any equation and any problem almost instantly, he has a photo graphic memory, and he can speak multiple languages all the way from Arabic to Vietnamese and beyond."
"You sound like you know him." Cadence said, leering at her.
"We use to be allies before I was betrayed." May replied. "I know him and how he thinks. But he has only grown stronger and wiser. not to mention you've been compromised."
"What do you mean?" Cadence asked. "No one knows."
"As I said, Spyro isn't stupid." May responded. "The moment you failed to do that little dance and chant, he was suspicious of you, but when you brushed against him, that was when he knew you weren't her."
"How would he possibly know?" Cadence asked. "No way he could tell from just me brushing against his shoulder."
"He's a Jedi." Larxene said, finally putting her two cents in. "He has a power called the Force. An ancient power that recided in everyone, but only a few have the natural talent to use it."
"And Spyro is one of the most powerful Force users I know." May added. "His Midichlorian levels are equal to, if not higher, than one of the most powerful Jedi in the Jedi Order, Anakin Skywalker."
"So what do we do?" Cadence asked. "If he knows I'm not the real Mi Amore Cadenza, I can;t get near him to drain him."
"And with his Force abilities, no matter which form you take, he'll know it's you." May said, getting up from the chair. "We'll need to get rid of him. The trick is how and when?"
"Maybe when he's sleeping?" Larxene suggested.
"He's a heavy sleeper, I'll give you that." May replied. "But with the Force, he'd sense you from a mile away and wake up enough to throw you out the window before going back to bed."
"During the reception?" Cadence asked.
"No, too many witnesses." May replied. "Not to mention he'd turn you into glue with a flick of his finger."
"That powerful huh?" Cadence asked.
"Let's just say your only saving grace will be those bracers he wearing." May replied. "They're the only thing that is limiting his over all strength. He's basically Super Saiyan Goku without the golden hair."
The three of them thought about what to do, but couldn't come up with a thing as every plan they had come up with would be foiled by the prince or by his powers, frustration growing in the group.
"How about poison?" Larxene asked. "Poison one of the goods and he'll die from it?"
"That could work." Cadence said.
"It won't." May replied. "Spyro has the element Poison, he's basically immune to it."
"Oh come on!" Cadence shouted, her eyes glowing green. "Does this guy have any weaknesses!?"
"Actually, he does." May said, perking their ears up. "His friends."
Elsewhere in the castle, Spyro was giving guards specific orders and patrol routes that would make it difficult for anyone to get into the castle without being spotted, even if they used their corridors to get inside. After making sure the guards had their routes and knew what to do, he then went into the kitchen to see if he could snag himself something to eat as he was getting hungry, so he went to the kitchen to see what he could snag and saw Applejack was running around making sure everything was being made to perfection, icing the cake with Purple Hearts and adding some other decorations to them. near the entrance was a very upset and very annoyed twilight, who was checking everything off that Applejack had finished.
"Cake, check." Applejack said, Twilight checking off the cake and Applejack ran to another station. "Ice sculpture, check." She then ran to the oven and pulled out some kind of pastry, topped with apple slices that made Spyro's mouth water. "Best darn bite-sized apple pastries ya'll could ever have, check."
"Wow AJ, they look amazing." Spyro said, getting their attention.
"Thank ya kindly Sugarcube." Applejack said.
"Spike, put those wedding topper down." Spyro said, surprising the baby dragon as he didn't even look his way. "They aren't toys."
"Aw come on Spyro." Spike said, putting them down.
A second later, the princess came in and everyone, but Spyro and Twilight bowed to her, Spyro not trusting her while Twilight was caught off guard.
"Hiya princess." Applejack said, bowing to her.
"Pease, call me Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." Cadence replied.
"Oh, sorry." Applejack replied, getting up. "Have ya come to check out what is on the menu for your big day tomorrow?"
"I have." Cadence replied. As soon as Applejack turned her back to the princess, her mood changed instantly from cheery to bored and unamused, both Spyro and Twilight watching her with suspicion. Applejack presented a tray of the pastries to the princess, who used her magic to pick one up and took a bite, but looks disappointed. "They're... delicious. I love them."
"Ah shucks." Applejack said. "Thank ya kindly. Why don't ya take some to go."
"Oh, thank you." She replied, picking it up and putting the bag in her mouth.
"Don't mention it." Applejack replied. "Ah know how you brides can be. So bust ya forget to get somethin' to eat."
Cadence walked to the entrance of the kitchen, but then suddenly stopped, taking the bag and tossing it, surprising both Twilight and Spyro as she walked out, both looking out and watching her leave.
"You saw what I saw, right Spyro?" Twilight asked.
"I did." Spyro replied. "She's nothing like you described. Quick question, what color is Cadence's aura when you were a filly."
"Gosh, that was a long time ago." Twilight replied. "But, I think her magical aura is light blue."
"Then why is it green now?" Spyro asked, now knowing that wasn't the princess. "I need to run home real quick. Need to get some decorations for the wedding."
"But Pinkie has everything she needs." Twilight pointed out.
"These are... special." Spyro replied, putting the sling ring on. "Be back in a jiffy."
He got on his hind legs and spun his foreleg around, opening a portal not his garage and walked through the rift, the window closing and leaving twilight alone to continue with making sure everything was being prepared. While Spyro was away, Twilight was making sure the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids was being prepared and were ready for the wedding, venting her frustration to Rarity as she was talking about how her foal sitter changed, which the bride to be walked in and interrupted her tangent to examine the dresses, wanting something better and more with a longer train. twilight knew something was wrong but no one else saw it, growing infuriated as no one was listening to her. When they went into the ball room where the reception was going to be held, the princess was examining the decorations, not liking what she was seeing.
"Ok, let's see, we've been over the games." Pinkie said, tossing some dice where some game boards were at. "The music and dances, oh, this reception is going to be perfect!"
"Yes, perfect." Cadence replied. "If we were celebrating a six year old's birthday party."
"Oh, thank you!" Pinkie said, not getting the hint and annoying the princess.
"Maybe I could help with that." Spyro said, walking in with dozens of crates. "I do apologize princess, but I knew you wanted everything to be perfect, so i went back home and got these." He kicked one of the crates and it fell apart, revealing a golden orb that seemed to catch her eye and Pinkie's. "Got these from one of my adventures before coming to Equestria. They belongs to some Meimoidians who sold them to me for a good price. They are very special and are sure to make the wedding... unforgettable."
"Oh, they do look... exquisite." Cadence said, looking pleased. "You may proceed with the decorations. I shall be in my room."
The princess walked past him, noticing Twilight was glaring at her as she followed her, not wanting her to leave her sight as Pinkie walked up to him, going to the golden orb and making silly faces in it before Spyro stopped her, looking up and seeing the serious face he had on.
"Pinkie, why don't you get some rest." Spyro suggested. "I can put the decorations up."
"You sure?" Pinkie asked. "I'm more than happy to help out however I can."
"Thanks, but I got this." Spyro replied. "Go rest up. I got it from here." Pinkie smiled and bounced out of the room, leaving Spyro alone in the ball room what the golden orb, but then he sat down and slide the cover of his bracer up, pressing a few buttons and one of the crates opened up to reveal an old separatist probe droid, flying over to him and awaiting orders. "Keep a close eye on Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Transmit live feed to my bracers at all times and make sure you aren't spotted. Keep your distance and stay hidden."
The probe made a few beeping sounds before flying out of the room and leaving Spyro alone in the ballroom again, getting to work to set up the decorations in the ball room in assigned places he knew they'd be best suited for. After he was done with the decorations, putting some near pillars, on the walls, near the alter, and on the banister overlooking the room, he went to his room in the castle where he reported his findings about the princess and about the sudden attack from May to his master, letting him know what was going on and about his own suspicions of the princess.
"Hmm, I admit, it sounds far fetched young prince." Master Yen Sid said.
"Look, I trust my instincts and they're telling me this Mi Amore Cadenza is bad news." Spyro said. "And there is some kind of darkness in her. When she brushed against my shoulder, I could sense she was... cold... lacked emotion of any kind."
"Spyro, I believe you." Master Yen Sid said. "If you trust your instincts, then I will trust your judgement. Be careful with how you proceed because if your instincts are wrong, then you might not be able to spend another day in Equestria."
"I know master." Spyro said. "I'll be careful."
The image on his screen of his tablet went dark, walking out of the room and heading to the ballroom where the wedding was going to take place, entering the room and finding everyone was in their assigned places, but the bridesmaids were missing, making him worry for them.
"Uh, where are the bridesmaids?" Spyro asked, getting everyone's attention.
"Oh, don't worry about that." Princess Cadence replied.
"Spyro, come join us." Shining Armor said. "We're about to begin practice."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Twilight said, walking up behind Spyro, which he moved away. "I will not be standing next to her!"
Shining Armor cringed as his sister said that, chuckling nervously as he looked to his bride, who was unamused by Twilight's outburst.
"I'm sorry." Shining Armor said. "I don't know what's gotten into her."
"Maybe we should just ignore her." Cadence suggested, yelping in surprise as Twilight appeared in front of her.
"I have something very important to say!" Twilight said, glaring at the bride to be. "Cadence is evil!" Cadence started to back away from Twilight, nervous to be around her as everyone watched. "You've been nothing but mean to my friends, you did something to your bridesmaids, and you used some kind of spell to make my brothers eyes turn green and do this!" She turned t everyone and made her eyes spiral in opposite directions. "She cast this magic on my brother and did something to him! I'm telling you, she's not the real Cadence, she's evil!"
The unicorn then smirk and turned to cadence, pleased she managed to expose the bride, but to her surprise, there were tears in the alicorn eyes as she was about to cry.
"W-Why are you doing this to me?" Princess Cadence asked, unable to hold in her sob.
"Because you're evil!" Twilight replied, making the bride run away, but she teleported to the entryway as she ran away. "EVIL!"
Please with herself, she turned to tell everyone it was all alright, but was surprised to see Shining Armor, who did not look very happy.
"You want to know why my eyes went-" Shining Armor said, doing what Twilight did but regretted it as his head started to hurt. "My protection spell! It takes a lot out of me as it requires all my mana and my focus, causing me to have terrible migraines every time I renew the barrier! She wasn't casting any spell on me. She was healing me!"
"B-but-" Twilight tried to say, but was interrupted.
"The reason she replaced her Bridesmaids is because all they wanted to do was meet Canterlot Royalty when they became part of the wedding!" Shining Armor continued, not letting his sister get a word in. "And did it ever occur to you that the reason she's been acting up with you and your friends is due to the stress of planning the wedding!? Since I've been so busy making sure Canterlot is safe, she's had the responsibility of having to make all the choices and decisions all on her own! She wants our big day to go perfectly and she can't help it if she lashes out because of our important day tomorrow, which you don't seem to care about!"
He then winced as he felt his migraine come on again, rubbing his head to soothe it right as Spyro came to see if he could help, putting his hoof on his head to help alleviate the pain, which he could sense was coming form a spell, but it wasn't his protection spell.
"B-but I was only-" Twilight tried to say, but couldn't get a word out as Shining interrupted her again.
"I don't want to hear it Twilight!" Shining shouted. "Now if you excuse me, I need to go and console my bride." He then walked past twilight, clearly disappointed in her before he stopped at the doorway. "You can forget about being my best mare tomorrow." He then turned his head to look at her, gazing at her resentfully. "In fact, don't even show up to the wedding at all!"
What he said struck Twilight hard, causing her heart to break as she and Shining Armor never argued before in her life, watching as her brother left the room to comfort his bride. She then turned to her friends, hoping they'd believe her, but they just looked disappointed and walked past her as well, further breaking her heart.
"Come on Ya'll, let's go check on the princess." Applejack said.
They ignored their friend, believing she was just being jealous, further breaking her heart as Applejack lead the way. However, the thing that completely shattered her heart was when Princess Celestia, her mentor, walked past her and stopped at the doorway, her back to her student.
"Princess... I..." Twilight tried to say, but was interrupted once again.
"You have a lot to think about Twilight." Princess Celestia said, completely destroying her heart.
As the princess walked away, Twilight's eyes started to well up as she ran to the alter, crying at the steps as her friends, her brother, and her mentor turned their backs on her, sobbing on the ground. Before the princess could leave, she noticed Spyro still standing next tot he doorway, but he walked towards Twilight, stopping after taking a few steps towards her and turning to give Celestia as disappointed gaze.
"You should trust your students instincts." Spyro said, shocking the princess. "She's known Cadence her whole life when she was foal sitting her. She knows Cadence better than you do."
"Wait, you believe her?" Celestia asked, shocked to hear that.
"Over that pony claiming to be Cadence, yes I do." Spyro replied.
He then walked away from the stunned princess, not believing that the Prince of Light and Darkness would believe Twilights accusations over everything else, causing her to suddenly rethink what she said as she walked out of the room. He approached the crying unicorn, who has lost the faith of her friends and her mentor in one night, never acknowledging Spyro was standing next to her as she believed that he would leave her as well.
"Maybe... I was being too over protective." Twilight said, looking up to the alter where the bride and groom would stand before the audience. "I could have gained a sister... but instead, I lost a brother."
Sad music then started to play again as a song was coming up, Spyro sensing how much she was hurting deep inside.
[Twilight Sparkle]
He was my big brother, best friend forever,
And now we'll never do anything together.
She then began to sob on the ground, breaking Spyro's heart as he sat down next to her and started to gently run her back as she cried, getting up and hugging Spyro as she sobbed in his chest, hugging her back as he consoled her, being the only pony who believed her and letting her cry. A moment later, while she was crying, an alert came on his bracers, sliding it back to see it was the probe droid contacting him.
"I need to get this Twilight, one second." Spyro said, the unicorn not paying attention to him as he pushed a button to contact the droid. "You got what you need?" He heard what sounded like humming as a response, smiling to himself. "Good. Keep recording and if anything happens to me, find Luna and Rosy. they're the only ones who I can trust right now."
The bracers slide then went back over the screen right as cadence walked in, Twilight looking to her and ending the hug with Spyro.
"I'm sorry." Twilight said. "So, so sorry."
The three starred at one another, but Spyro saw a flash of green in her eyes, knowing what was going to happen.
"You're about to be." Cadence said.
Green flames shot out from the ground surrounding the two, Twilight in a panic while Spyro just stood there with no fear or emotion, the two of them sinking into the ground as the spell took them somewhere, but instead of feeling fear, Spyro just smiled to himself, one that said he knew this was happening and was hoping for it. When the spell was done, there was only the princess in the room, who was smiling smugly to herself as May and Larxene walked out from behind the pillars.
"Well, that was easy." Larxene said.
"Yeah, too easy." May said, scratching her chin.
"It matters not." Cadence said, letting her disguise fail as green flames surrounded her and revealed she wasn't the princess, but has a black carapace shell, holes in her hooves and horn, bug wings and a blue mane made of the same stuff as her wings. "Now that they're out of the way, my plan can continue without any interference."
"No, it's done yet." May said. "I know him, he wouldn't let this happen unless he has an ace up his sleeve. He's always a step ahead." She then looked up to think about what his end goal was, but then saw the probe droid, horrified to see it. "There! A probe droid!"
The droid detached itself from the ceiling and flew down, firing its dual blasters at them and making the three of them scatter as the droid flew away to get to safety. However, May and Larxene chased after it to prevent it from getting away, firing water spells and dark magic at it, but the probe avoided being hit by all of it, flying down halls and through corridors until the two mares split up, one going down one hall while the other kept on following the probe, Larxene running after the flying machine but May got in it's path, forcing the machine to get it's b;asters out and fire on her, but each shot missed and May got her Keyblade out, slicing it in half and making the probe fall to the ground in pieces, Larxene catching up and catching her breath as she saw the destroyed machine.
"W-where did that come from?" Larxene asked, looking at the destroyed probe.
"I bet you fifty Munni that it belongs to Spyro." May said. "Must have brought it from the Star Wars universe for security."
"Think it got a transmission off?" Larxene asked.
"Probably." May replied. "But I think it's only linked to Spyro's bracers. So, we don't have anything to worry about. Let's get back to the room before we're spotted. We got a big day tomorrow."
The two dark ponies walked away from the remains of the Probe Droid, knowing someone else would clean it up for them and didn't want to be at the scene of the crime if they did find it, but what they failed to notice was a small hidden compartment on the side of the droid opened up and from it was a smaller version of the Probe Droid come out, floating up into the air and watching May and Larxene walking away as it made some small humming noises.
"Find Luna and Rosy." Spyro's voice said.
The smaller probe droid flew away from the wreckage as the night carried on, wanting to find Luna and Rosy as ordered by Spyro.