Zemrite walked through the castle corridors. He wasn’t heading anywhere specific. He was just...well, bored. He had been invited to attend a royal wedding by Celestia. It was for Twilight’s brother and her former foal sitter who she spoke about a lot. It was only until her brother told her that it was actually Cadence herself. Though as of late, Twilight has been a little suspicious of Cadence for..something. The others keep on saying that she is being overprotective of her brother. You can’t blame the mare, though. Shining Armor was the only real friend she had when she was a filly. And Zemrite could understand that. As he was walking along however, he accidentally runs into Cadence herself, effectively knocking her off her hooves. She was about to hit the floor until Zemrite grabbed her wrist and immediately picked her right back up onto them.

“Sorry about that princess. My fault entirely.”

She was a lovely looking mare. Curvy in the right spots, not too slim, and very beautiful eyes. Shining Armor is one lucky stallion to be marrying her.

“Hmph, you should watch where you are going next time.”

“Of course, sorry again.”

Cadence looked him up and down. And when she did, her mood suddenly changed. He noticed that she was licking her lips a bit and narrowed his eyes at him seductively.

“What...exactly are you?”

She asked as she approached him. He backed away from her a step.

“Well, I am no pony...I am not even from this world.”

“I noticed that...there is something inside of you that..has me wanting to keep you all to myself...something powerful.”

Zemrite blinked a few times and decided it was time to bail before things got bad.

“Well, I am a shadowmancer..but I must be going. Tia is expecting me to go see her. Take care, princess.”

He said as he slid pass her and began walking quickly towards Celestia study, knowing she’d be in there at this time of day. Once he was out of range, Cadence shuddered with an evil grin.

“I have no idea what he is. But something dark and powerful resides within him, and his body looks like it is in peak condition. If I can get him under my control, I won’t need Shining Armor. But for now, I will stick with my plan.”

She said as she went on her way as well. Zemrite found Celestia’s study before he could knock on the door, it swung open with the smiling face of the sun princess. Zemrite blinked a few times.

“Hey, Tia. Was just coming to visit you.”

“I got a strange feeling that was you coming down the hall. I am happy it was correct.”

She said as she wraps her arms around him in a tight hug, nuzzling her cheek against his head, more mindful of not robbing him of air with her large soft breasts this time, but still pressing them into it a bit. She releases him and takes one of his hands, guiding him to come and sit by her. He does so, sitting on one of the plush pillows that sat across from a fireplace nestled in the corner of the room.

“Tia...can I take to you about Cadence?”

“Of course. Did something happen?”

He nods.

“I accidently bumped into her back in the hall. I prevented the fall of course and apologized. Then she acted a little aggressive towards me. And when I was about to walk away from her, her mood changed again. She became..flirty, and she gave me bedroom eyes. And there is something else. She smelled...off. If it’s one thing I noticed with my time here, each individual pony has their own unique scent, but hers was like she had been in some kind of moist cave for a very very long time. Very unlike the ponies here.”

Celestia arched a brow, though she scooted closer to Zemrite and snuggled up to him.

“I know you are worried about Twilight and how she has been acting around Cadence lately, But I promise you, everything will be fine. However…”

She said as she opened one eye to look at him.

“...Whenever your nose smells something wrong or off, it is usually right. You know your skills Zemrite. Keep an eye on her if you feel that is necessary. And should things go wrong, in the end I know I can count on you and Twilight and her friends. You may not be an element bearer, but you have a wonderful power of your own. While unconventional and a little scary. I have come to admire it. As well as to admire you. Both Lulu and I in fact.”

Zemrite smiled lightly and gently returns an affectionate nuzzle. He leans in closely and enjoys her warmth.

“I have really come to admire you both as well. And I feel very fortunate to have gotten as close as I am to you two as i have. I like seeing both of you like this. Just acting like regular ponies around me. Don’t get me wrong, you are both impressive when handling royalty matters and such. But when you to spend time with me, I see a side of you both that makes me draw even closer to you. It’s almost child-like and adorable.”

Celestia blushes hard as he said these things about her and Luna. But it wasn’t embarrassing either, the blush was more of a ‘He finds us both adorable?’ kind of feeling, which made her feel happy. She wanted to snuggle up closer and just wrap herself around him. But she didn’t want to go too far until she felt he would allow it.

“Speaking of which, I suppose Lulu is fast asleep huh?”

“Yes, Lulu and I have been busy during these last few days…”

“Because of the threat that was made against the city and castle? Well, from what I remember from the show in my world...things don’t pan out for the wedding in the beginning. Though my memory of my human life is fading quicker and quicker everyday, now only small feelings of deja vu come and go when certain events come along. The only memories that seem to stay intact are ones of you and Lulu, Twilight and the other girls. And a few other ponies. But the memories I have formed here with the town ponies stay. So I suppose I am not losing them in a way. Just learning all over again. Either way, I am glad I still get to keep the ones that involve you and Lulu.”

Celestia can’t help but give an internal ‘Aaawwwwh…’ in her mind. She loved how open he was with her, despite being around royalty. No other pony other than Twilight and Luna was like this. She just wanted to squeeze him tightly and shower him with unlimited affection. The temptation was very great. But she managed to control herself. The two cuddled for a straight hour. But then it was time for the wedding rehearsal. They both got up from their cuddle position and walked out the door of the study, eventually making it to the throne room. Zemrite watched from the open doorway, of course keeping his eye on Cadence mostly. The way she moved about and carried herself. Zemrite could tell she was putting on and act, a very good act that would fool most, but an act nonetheless. But he wasn’t going to jump to conclusions just yet until he had enough evidence to present to Celestia.

Zemrite heard hoofsteps running towards the doorway, he quickly stepped into the shadows of the door before the group in the room and whoever was coming could see him. This was one of his signature abilities, and a personal favorite, ‘Shadow Crawling’. This gave him the ability to melt into a shadow and become one with it, even moving shadows of a living being. They could carry him and not even notice. It was Twilight who had came into the throne room. Harsh words were exchanged, eventually leading to one of those feeling that Zemrite spoke of earlier. He saw the look on Twilight’s face after what her brother had said to her. The poor mare was heartbroken and sad. Zemrite wanted to do nothing but go and hug one of his favorite ponies. But he stayed in hiding, eventually, he followed her into a room where she went to apology to Cadence. That same feeling was burning in his body again.

“I’m...I’m sorry…”

Twilight said genuinely.

“You will be…”

Cadence said as her horn charged up. With as much speed as he could muster, Zemrite ran over to Twilight and wrapped his arms around her. The teleportation spell was cast, sending them both to the underground caverns of the castle. Subconsciously, Zemrite knew where he was headed, and he knew exactly what he had to do. Imagines flashed before his eyes as they teleported, A beaten and battered Cadence sitting alone surrounded by rocks, imagines of an evil laughing Cadence appearing on crystals. Eventually Zemrite and Twilight appeared in the same kind of place he was seeing. He landed on his back as he held Twilight closely, giving her a softer landing, thankfully.

“Twi? Are you alright?”

She looks up to see who was holding her, happy to see that she wasn’t sent here alone, and with somepony she could trust fully.

“Zemrite...how did you know…?”

“I will explain later Twilight, but we need to find Cadence, the real one.”

“What do you mean..?”

“The one that sent us here is a fake. I can’t tell you how I know. But we must make haste.”

He said as he gets up and helps her to her hooves in the process. Suddenly he sees what he saw in his vision, Cadence appearing as an image on the crystals with an evil grin.

“Oh...not only did I get you here, but I got him as well. I will be coming back for you stud...trust me. But for now, I have a wedding to attend to. I am going to make sure your brother stays under my control, and when that happens...he will be all mine.!”

“If you hurt my brother, I swear…!”

“Twilight! Enough, we have to move! She is only baiting you. Come on, I have picked up a scent in this direction.”

Twilight was more than a little frustrated right now, but she nodded and followed Zemrite, eventually leading them both to a rock structure that he could smell another pony through the cracks. He looks to Twilight.

“Mind blasting that thing down for me?”

Twilight blinked but nodded, using her unicorn magic to fire a powerful beam of magic, the rocks crumbling and revealing a lone chamber. And in the middle of that chamber sat Cadence, in the same stated he had seen in his vision. Twilight was about to rush and tackle her out of anger when Zemrite puts an arm out in front of her to stop her. He walks up to the weakened alicorn mare who looks up at him with a bit of fright.

“W-who are you…?”

“My name isn’t important right now. The question is. Can you prove you are the real Cadence?”

He looks over at twilight and motions her over. Then returns his gaze to Cadence.

“I believe Twilight told me that you two had a little dance when she was being taken care of by you….”

Cadence nods and looks up at the glaring mare.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hands…”

“And do a little shake….”

Twilight finished, a smile coming across her face as she rushed over and hugged Cadence tightly.

“It really is you! Zemrite it’s the real one!”

He couldn’t help but smile at their display of affection, but then he heard the evil laughter coming from the cavern. He quickly wraps his arms around both of them.

“We don’t have time to lose. I am getting you both out of here, close your eyes and stay still, this will feel a little weird at first.”

Before they had time to ask any questions, they sank into the ground under a large dark shadow. There was no sunlight in the cavern what so ever, so he could literally shadow crawl along any surface he wished, no matter the texture or obstacle. Twilight and Cadence, however were too scared to even open their eyes or move. It’s like they were in a moving pocket dimension or something. But Twilight knew she could trust Zemrite. She grabbed Cadence’s hand to reassure her that everything was going to be alright.

--The Wedding, Throne Room--

“Without further ado, I know pronounce you-”

Celestia was stopped by the sound of the doors slamming open, Twilight standing there with a look of hate in her eyes, glaring at the supposed Cadence.

“This wedding is off!”

She shouted.

“GAH! Why does she have to so protective of her brother?! I mean...why does she have to come and ruin my special day…?”

She said with fake sobs.

“Because it’s not your special day, it’s mine!”

Shouted Cadence as she entered the room, the same look on her face as Twilight.

“What?! But how did you escape my bride’s maids?!”

Zemrite comes in the room with a chuckle. His hood over his head, glowing deep blue eyes in the shadow of his hood.

“You see, as a shadowmancer, that dark secluded cavern you left us in was practically a playground for someone such as myself. Finding the way out was easy. We didn’t even run into your bride’s maids.”

Her eyes grow wide at who she was looking at.

“You?! You helped these two escape?!”

“I sure did. Just because I am a user of dark magic doesn’t mean that I am a evil being. In fact, see you with that face makes me feel better, knowing that your plan will fall to pieces now. Why don’t you show us who you really are, Chryssy?”

He said her nickname that a lot of the fandom back in his world had used, that was one of the few pieces of memory he still had left. And he was glad to, because it seemed to have gotten under her skin, or in this case, exoskeleton. She growled and transformed back into her real self. She had the same kind of figure as Celestia, just...more insect-like. Lots of holes in her limbs to. She lets out an evil laugh and smiled wickedly as she takes to the air.

“It doesn’t matter anyways, I have already taken control of Shining Armor’s mind, and it suffices to say he is currently unable to perform his duty as captain of the royal guard!”

“Not my Shining Armor!”

Cadence shouted as she runs towards the stallion, a toxic green beam of magic firing at her when she does.

“Ah-ah-ah. Don’t want to go back to the cave do w-?”

She was cut off by a black arrow piercing its way through her shoulder, she lets out a cry of pain and her gaze turns to the one who shot it. Zemrite smiled wickedly as he lowered his bow.

“You should be more focused on me, sweetheart. I am the one that going to give you more holes in the shelled body of yours.”

He said with an evil chuckle. It was time for him to get to work, to make things right here with Cadence and Shining Armor. This was their special day after all.

“You will pay for that you filthy beast! I was going to make you my prime breeding stallion. But now...I am going to kill you here and now.”

She said as she flew at him full force. She drew in close, but he slid out of the way and chuckled lightly. Time slowed for that one moment as he spoke.

"Not quick enough, Chryssy."

He said before slamming his elbow into her back, connecting directly in the middle of her spine, a loud crack was heard as she falls to the ground. She lets out a growl of pain and quickly gets to her feet. His hit connected to the nerves of her wings, rendering them useless for about thirty minutes. Zemrite jumps back and chuckles again

“Uh-oh. Looks like you won’t be doing any flying for awhile.”

He said as he watched Chrysalis stand and a black and blue sword appears in her hand from a green fire. She glared at Zemrite with hate.

“I..will not continue to let you make a fool of me!!”

She said as she lunged at him with her blade. He quickly reaches in his cloak and pulls out his dagger, ‘Demon’s Demise’. All the ponies looked on in shock and horror as they saw what was going down. Celestia wanted to step in more than anything, but she knew that when a pony had their sights set on Zemrite and filled with anger and hate for him. She knew that the battle was already in favor.

The clashing sounds of metal echo through the throne room as the blades met over and over, Zemrite jumped around and flipped about, using his acrobatic skills to out maneuver the enraged changeling queen. What she didn’t notice is that Twilight and the others had slipped out to retrieve the elements of harmony. Zemrite was surprisingly good with a dagger, especially at close range. He’d get in and stab her in the arms multiple time after parrying her sword. But she wasn’t easy to get close to. Her swings were wide and wild, he had gotten cut a few times through the fight, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t take. He was lucky the blade wasn’t made of silver, or he’d be in a world of trouble. However, she did get one good hit in. She managed to stab him through the shoulder. He lets out a growl of pain as the blade is shoved through down to the hilt. And what’s worse, it had a poisoning effect with it. Zemrite could feel it burning through his body, blood spurting from the wound.

This was starting to worry Celestia as she saw his blood spill on the floor, she was about to rush in and attack Chrysalis with a vengeance, but then she heard Zemrite laugh, even though he was growling in pain.

“Come on Chryssy...is that the best you can do?”

He said as he took hold of her sword arm and plunged the blade into it with force, digging it around and slicing everything he can. He had her arm in his grip, those metallic claws sinking through the hard exoskeleton of her body. She lets out a loud cry of pain and tries to pull away from him.

“Let go! Let go!”

She cried out in pain and anger. Eventually, her pulling and his slicing did exactly what he wanted it to do, she gives one last pull and a sickening ‘pop’ and ‘splatch’ was heard. He head severed her arm completely, green blood flowing from both her severed arm and the area where he had cut it off. Zemrite chuckles again, fighting the pain of the poison that was taking a toll on his body.

“Heheheh...Looks like….”

He then coughs up a bit of blood.

“...you won’t be using this anymore…”

He said as he slowly stood up and pulled her sword as quick and swift as he could from his shoulder, tossing the blade aside. The metal sound echoed through the room as it slid across the ground, painting the floor with his blood.

“It doesn’t matter...you will be dead soon anyways...I have won!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Queenie.”

He said as he flips a small vial in the air and catches it between his fingers. He pops off the top and swallows down the light green liquid. The poison already being cleansed from his body.

“I didn’t bring my healing potions with me today, but I always keep antidotes on me at all times, just in case I am poisoned. Now then..”

He said as he twirled his dagger in his hand. Slowly approaching her as she begins to crawl back away from him.

“Are you going to leave here with your minions, who are being taken care of outside by the element bearers? Or do I have to cut off the other arm?”

“What/..do you mean?”

They slipped out when I was keeping you occupied. Your little bugs are being swatted out of the sky as we speak. And Cadence here has already brought Shining Armor out of the mind control you had on him. Looks like my job here is done. Cadence, Shining, see her out will you?”

He said as he stepped back. Chrysalis looked over to see the couple powering up some kind of ‘super love’ spell, effectively repelling her out the window along with her minions, sending them to the far reaches of Equestria. The crowd cheered loudly as did the ponies outside. The threat had been neutralized and all was well once more. Zemrite smiled lightly and fell back against the wall, slowly sliding down as his vision starts to blur.

Just gonna….rest here for a bit…

He thought to himself as his eyes slowly started to fall closed. The last thing he remembers seeing, was Celestia and a few others running towards him, calling out his name in worry. The fight had exhausted him, and even though the poison was gone from his system, it did wreak havoc on him internally. Finally rendering him unconscious.

Author's Note

Here ya go everyone, a nice long chapter for ya!

May the darkness grant you peace.