Twilight's frown kept deepening the longer she watched Princess Cadance interact with her friends.
First, she smiled and complimented Applejack's pastries, only to throw them into the trash when she turned her back.
Next, she criticized Rarity's outfit, complaining about how she was hoping for something with more beading and a longer train, and then asked for it to be in a different color entirely!
And then she went to Pinkie Pie and compared her party to something that would only make a six-year-old happy!
Who doesn't like Pin the Tail on the Pony?!
There was definitely something going on! There has to be! Cadance would have never acted like she was currently!
When the day ended, Twilight only managed to check on those three, but she was sure that Cadance also acted nastily to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash! She was sure of it!
"Bet I can guess what you're all thinking," Twilight Sparkle said as she and her friends joined up down in the city after they finished for the day, each one of them sipping from a glass of juice at some dessert place that Rarity heard about, "Cadance is the absolute worst bride-to-be ever,"
Twilight Sparkle was ready to hear her friends agree with her, all having their own complaints about how she was treating them.
Instead, she got looks of confusion from all of her friends.
"Twilight, whatever are you talking about? Cadance is an absolute gem!" Rarity told Twilight, disagreeing with her opinion on her future sister-in-law.
"Rarity," Twilight responded, giving her reasoning for why Rarity should also find issues with Cadance, "She was so demanding,"
"Of course she was," Rarity answered with a smile, waving off Twilight's concern, "Why shouldn't she expect the very best on her wedding day,"
While Twilight could agree with the sentiment, Cadance was still demanding, without even listening to Rarity's opinion on the dress, and outright dismissing her bridesmaids' opinions.
Perhaps Applejack would agree with her, She worked hard on all the food, she must also think it was terrible to simply throw it away!
"Applejack, Did you know that after she told you how much she just love-love-loved your hors d'eouvres, she just threw them in the trash?" There! Applejack will surely agree with her now!
"Aw, she was probably just trying to spare my feelings," Applejack said with a smile before returning to her juice.
"No, She was just being fake and totally insincere!" Twilight waved her legs in frustration at two of her friends not seeing what she was seeing. Gaining the entire groups attention as they waited for an example that might actually make Cadance look like the awful person Twilight thinks she is.
"Well," Fluttershy spoke up, "She did raise her voice at one of my birds in rehearsal,"
"See! Rude!" Twilight pointed at Fluttershy as if that was all the proof she needed. A content smile on her face as she closed her eyes and crossed her legs over her chest, assured of her proverbial victory in this imaginary argument she was having with nobody.
"But he was singing really off-key," Whatever chance of victory Twilight might have had was snatched away as Fluttershy brought out the bird in question, who let out a loud and obnoxious cry reminiscent of a rusty bicycle horn or a dying clown nose.
Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack didn't see it, so Twilight had to use her big guns, "Pinkie Pie. You had to have seen-" Twilight's words got caught in her throat and then summarily disposed of as she watched both Pinkie Pie and Spike playing with a tiny kitten away from their table.
"Rainbow Dash, You're with me, right?" Twilight turned to her last available friend.
"Sorry Twi," Rainbow Dash gave a sheepish frown as she stretched her legs and wings, "I was too busy prepping for my sonic rainboom to pay attention to the bride's bad attitude,"
"Twilight, The Princess is getting married," Rarity placed a hoof on her shoulder, "I'm sure all of this is nothing more than just her nerves before the big day, It's normal for brides to start becoming picky and bossy when their special day is so close, I'm sure everything is fine,"
Twilight shook her shoulders as she stood up, letting Rarity's hoof fall as she slammed her front legs onto the table, "And I'm sure that it's the results of her being an awful pony who doesn't deserve to know Shining Armor, let alone marry him!"
"...Think maybe you're bein' a just teeny tiny bit possessive of your brother?" Applejack asked awkwardly as the rest of the group watched Twilight pull at her hairs.
"Suger cube, I think that you're overthinking again, We know how that makes you react, but you shouldn't take it out on the Princess," Applejack continued, a soft smile on her face as she leaned her elbow on the table, "Why don't you go to sleep early, I'm sure by tomorrow you'll see that you're just overthinking everything again, like you did when that future you came here to tell you not to overthink things,"
"I'm not being possessive of Shining Armor!" Twilight exclaimed as she stood up from the table, "And I'm not overthinking! I know it!" She started to angrily walk away, only to turn back to the table and quickly take the finishing sips from her juice, her eyes glaring at her friends' soft and understanding smiles, before finally turning away for real and storming back to the castle.
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"I'm not overthinking things," Twilight told herself as she walked down the castle corridors, "I stopped overthinking a while ago, I even wrote a Friendship report about it! Cadance is obviously awful now, I just need proof!"
"We also need proof," Twilight froze as another voice made itself known.
"What's that? Who are you? Show yourself!" She started looking left and right, up and down, searching for this new voice.
"Behind you, I'm standing right behind you," The voice told her, and Twilight turned around to be met with-
"Hey, Aren't you Prince Blueblood's bodyguard? Starlight Glimmer, right?" Twilight pointed at the purple unicorn who leaned against the wall.
"I see you remember my name, that's going to make this next section easier," Starlight Glimmer walked up and placed a hoof on her shoulder, Twilight noted that a lot of ponies have been doing that today, "I agree with you, that something about Princess Cadance isn't right, but for the accusations we want to bring, we need something more solid than a hunch, or a change in attitude that can be explained as pre-marriage nerves, we need actual evidence,"
"Why are you saying we? Are there more ponies that noticed Cadance acting-" Twilight tried to talk only for Starlight Glimmer to put a hoof over her mouth and shush her.
"There's no time to talk, We don't know how many of them are already in here, so listen closely," Starlight Glimmer looked to the sides as if expecting somepony to jump out at her, "When you get the proof, come to Prince Blueblood's room, alone, And without waiting for a response from the Element of Magic, Starlight Glimmer disappeared in a flash of magic, teleporting away.
Twilight, instead of questioning anything that Starlight Glimmer said, was ecstatic to learn that she indeed was right and that Cadance might have indeed possibly been acting awful for real, and that she wasn't simply overthinking everything again.
"That was weird..." Twilight Sparkle noted to herself before she turned around and left the castle once more, making her way towards her brother's house, hoping to convince him not to ruin his life with this awful Cadance.
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"Twily, good to see you, come on in, make yourself at home," Twilight Sparkle smiled sheepishly as she entered Shining Armor's house, her eyes quickly looking around the living room, spotting a suit of armor, a plaque on the wall, a new couch, and even a vase with fake flowers.
"Shining, I need to talk to you about-" Twilight opened her mouth to talk to her brother about what was bothering her, only to get interrupted as a certain Alicorn walked down the stairs.
"Dear, we need to talk, privately," Twilight's eyes locked with Cadance's for a brief moment, and for a fraction of a second, Twilight Sparkle felt as if she was a worm hanging on to a fishing hook, and the pony she was looking at was a monstrously large eel, ready to swallow her whole, and plunge her into a fall for the rest of eternity down her monstrously long throat.
"Cadance should not be making me feel like this, there has to be something!" She told herself in her mind as Cadance looked away from her.
"Just a moment Twilight," Shining Armor told her as he followed Cadance into a nearby room, giving the two some privacy.
As Shining closed the door behind him, Twilight quickly caught it in her magic before it could close, giving her a thin opening to look into the room the two entered.
She couldn't make out what they were saying, there had to be some sort of soundproofing magic on that room, which would make sense if the office desk in the corner was anything to go by. That room must have been Shining Armor's home office, where he could continue to work outside of the castle, a soundproofing spell would make it so nopony would be able to listen in case some security issue was being discussed.
It was probably a good thing for Shining.
But for Twilight? She just wanted to hear what they were talking about.
Peering through the small opening in the door, Twilight looked on as the soon-to-be-wedded couple talked about what seemed to be Shining Armor's groom outfit, their talk devolving into what appeared to be an argument.
"See! A happily married couple shouldn't be arguing about that! She's no good!" Twilight silently cheered at another point she could add to the growing list of 'Why Cadance is an awful pony'
And then something weird happened.
As the two ponies' growing argument seemed to reach a crescendo, Shining Armor flinched, hoof moving to hold his head in head.
Twilight stared with wide eyes as she watched Cadance's horn release a misty green magic that enveloped Shining Armor's head, his eyes going all swirly and shaken before he shook his head as if nothing was wrong.
"She's hypnotizing him... She's using hypnosis to make him fall in love with her!" Twilight gasped at the revelation, "She's not just an awful pony, She's outright evil!"
Without waiting any longer, Twilight Sparkle dashed out of her brother's house and quickly made her way to the castle, not to the guest room that was readied for her to sleep at, but to the room Starlight Glimmer told her to go to.
Twilight Sparkle had evidence that Princess Cadance was an awful person!
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"Yeah, we can't use this, this isn't evidence of anything," Starlight Glimmer was starting to understand why her boss got frustrated all the time.
If ponies like this were what she had to deal with whenever she wanted to get the job done, she'd also want to throw a pirate through the wall of a cruise ship.
"Wha- How is this not proof?!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed as she sat on an empty chair, "Cadance is obviously brainwashing him!"
"Did you see Shining Armor act any differently than he normally would after she cast the spell?" Starlight raised an eyebrow.
"Well, no. But his eyes went all weird and stuff! And his head was hurting just before that! He was obviously breaking out of the brainwashing before she recast the spell, that's the only explanation!" Twilight Sparkle slammed her hoof on the soft mattress of the bed she sat on.
"Or he was having a migraine after keeping the shield around Canterlot active for so long, and her spell helped him deal with the headache," Starlight Glimmer shook her head, "I apologize, Ms. Sparkle, but even with what you saw, all your accusations can be easily explained as something else, that's why I said we needed something solid," The Prince's Bodyguard sighed in exhaustion, "You can go to your room now, We all have a busy day tomorrow," She told her, and with an aquamarine glow to her horn, she opened the door.
"But we already have enough proof! Cadance is evil now! I know it!" Twilight vehemently yelled, shaking her legs around to emphasize her point, but it all seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Her friends just thought she was overthinking, and her brother didn't see anything wrong. Now, the only other pony that might have thought the same as her is also saying that she was wrong!
Twilight Sparkle angrily stood up from the bed and started marching out of the room, only to pause as she noted something peculiar about the room.
"Wait a moment, where is Prince Blueblood?" She turned her head slowly to look at Starlight Glimmer, the other mare simply returning her gaze.
"Go to your room Sparkle, the Prince's location is on a need-to-know basis," She told her, "And since you didn't bring any useful evidence, you don't need to know,"
"But why would the Prince's whereabouts be connected with proof about Cadance being a-" Twilight thought out loud.
"You are treading a dangerous path there, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight froze as a third mare made herself known, seemingly appearing out of the shadows behind the drapes on the window, "We suggest you heed Starlight Glimmer and return to your room, there is a curfew for non-Staff,"
"...Okay, I'll go to my room..." Twilight Sparkle said calmly as she stared at the new mare, a single thought running through her head as she left the Prince's room and started making her way toward the room assigned to her.
"Why would the Prince's whereabouts be connected with evidence that Cadance is awful, and what does Princess Luna have to do with it?"
Something wasn't right. Twilight knew that something wasn't right. And tomorrow she'll show everyone that something wasn't right.
She had all the proof she'd need, tomorrow she'll get everyone to see Cadance for who she really is! And then they'll all know that she wasn't overthinking it all again!