As the astounded ponies in the Chapel dropped their jaws and gasped, Spike, Princess Luna, the real Cadance, and Thorax stood near Celestia.

"Sister?..." Celestia asked. "What just happened?"

"What just happened is a result of your short-sightedness." Luna said harshly. "As you saw, Twilight Sparkle was correct in her assumptions, assumptions you ridiculed, along with her friends."

As Shining approached the real Cadance, he looked away.

"Cadance?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know, Shining." she replied. "Can we talk in private for a while?"

"Of course." Shining said. As the two of them headed out of the Chapel and towards the dormitories, Spike came towards Celestia.

"Heh." Spike scoffed. "So much for "You have a lot to think about", or is it too soon for that?"

Before Celestia could rebuke the young dragon, Luna came forward.

"Spike is without fault in this." Luna said. "He assisted me in countless ways, and I hereby absolve him of any offenses he committed. Furthermore, Thorax and his Changelings are now my guests. I will be keeping them in the Lunar Gardens until a suitable home for them is found."

Celestia was speechless. Gaping like a fish out of water, she sat down on her legs.

"Luna, I want to know what happened and I want to know now." she finally said.

"As you wish, Sister." Luna said. "First things first. Thorax and company, you may proceed to the Gardens and wait there. I will shield you for your protection."

"Yes, Princess."

As Thorax and his company flew out after bowing to Luna, the Princess of the Moon turned to the Elements.

"We will be having words once Cadance and Shining Armor have worked things out." she said. "And I will be just as harsh as you were to Twilight."

The Element Bearers flinched as Luna headed out, followed by Spike. As Spike was about to leave, he made a very offensive gesture at them with his left hand while the doors closed behind him.

====

About an hour later, the Elements, Celestia, Luna, Spike, Cadance, and Shining were seated in a conference room, where there would be no interruptions.

"So, Cadance, Shining Armor?" Luna asked. "Have you come to a decision?"

"We have." Cadance said. "We're still getting married."

The Element Bearers prepared to cheer, but Cadance cut them off.

"However, there will be quite a few...adjustments to how it will be done." Cadance said.

The Elements gulped as one.

"First, the only ones who will be attending are Princess Luna, who will be presiding, Spike, and Thorax the Changeling, as a reward for his honorable services to Equestria." Cadance said. "Nopony else is invited or will be allowed to attend for any reason whatsoever."

"Second, It won't be in Canterlot." Cadance continued. "I have settled on a location with Princess Luna's help, and it is secret to all but those I invited."

"Third, it's not happening anytime soon." Cadance said. "It will be in three months, exactly."

"Then that gives me time to prepare!" Rarity smiled. "A full three months to show off my best work!"

"And speaking of the Element Bearers, you're not coming either." Cadance said. "You're disinvited, and your services are no longer required."

That made the Element Bearers freeze.

"You had a chance to show off your skills, and you lost it." Cadance said. Rarity, you won't be doing my dress. Fluttershy, there won't be music. Rainbow Dash, no Sonic Rainboom. Pinkie, no reception. And Applejack, no baking from you."

"Then what's the point of a wedding?" Rainbow protested. "Shouldn't it be big and over the top?"

"Nope." Shining said. "We're doing it quiet this time. No public reception, no big meet and greet, nothing like that. Before you keep complaining, it wasn't Cadance's idea, it was mine. I didn't want it to be like this, but you five changed my mind rather quickly."

"We wanted it simple and just us originally." Cadance said. "The courts and Celestia disagreed, saying it wasn't proper for a Royal Wedding. Well, neither the courts nor you, Aunt Celestia, are getting married. So, it's our decision now and we're not changing our minds."

That made Celestia freeze.

"Cadance, are you sure of this?" she asked.

"Yes, absolutely." Cadance replied. "I'll be giving an address later to the public regarding this, and then to the court. If anypony has complaints, they can take it up with my fiance. And he's not budging on this, either."

"Agreed." Shining said. "We didn't want this to happen, and it seems we were right."

"But what about Twilight?" Rainbow protested. "Is this what she'd want?"

"I'm damn sure it is!" Shining cursed, to the surprise of everyone. "And don't speak of her any further. If my memory serves me right, you were the ones who betrayed her! So, no, I believe this is what Twilight would've wanted."

Rainbow turned purple and began to sulk.

"One last thing." Cadance said. "Celestia, you're not coming either. Princess Luna will preside, and none of us are telling you the new location. As far as I'm concerned, you're just as much at fault here."

"Now, we'll be giving our addresses now." Shining said as he and Cadance prepared to leave. "Element Bearers…"

The five of them leaned forward.

"It wasn't nice meeting you." Shining said. "I expected better from my sister's trusted friends, and look what I got. I'd say you should head back to Ponyville when you can. Your jobs are done here."

As the two of them left, followed by Spike and Luna, Spike stopped and looked at Rarity.

"First...Rarity, though I've wanted to keep this to myself…" he said. "I had a crush on you since we first met. Now, I don't and I never will again. I should thank you..because you made me realize that I was just fooling myself."

As Rarity gasped and looked away, Spike turned to the other Element Bearers.

"And for the record, I messed everything up last night at Princess Luna's request. And she's already absolved me for it" Spike said sternly. "Rainbow, you'll find your Daring Do book under my bed in Twilight's former room."

As Spike headed out, Luna shut the doors behind them, leaving the other ponies aghast.

====
Canterlot, Royal Court Chambers

As the Equestrian Court, which represented the interests of the nobles and the courtiers, filed into a session asked for by Princess Cadance, they were shocked to see Cadance come in with a very stern look.

"Greetings, everypony." she said. "I'm sure you know of the fiasco that happened a few hours ago. Rest assured, everything is fine now. But I'm not fine, not in the slightest."

Cadance took a deep breath and growled.

"Because now I have to deal with all of you." she said. "The wedding is still on, but before you begin clamoring for invitations, it's a closed ceremony. Princess Luna, Spike the Dragon, and Thorax the Changeling are the only ponies who will be present. Nopony else is allowed or should attempt to come. Especially none of you."

"Princess, you can't just…" one noble protested, only for Cadance to fire a beam of magic at the stallion's head, causing him to duck for cover.

"I can do whatever I want, since it's my wedding." she said harshly. "If I remember right, it was your stupid insistence that I have my wedding here as the biggest event in history. Well, I'm sorry to say it, but that's not happening again."

"The wedding is taking place in three months, at a secret location known only to a privileged few." Cadance said. "We will be staying at that location until the day of the ceremony. I"m not spending another moment longer than I have to in this city."

Cadance sighed and continued.

"If any of you have a problem with this, you can take it up with...my flank." Cadance said. "I don't care what any of you say about this, because it's not your wedding to ruin this time."

Cadance turned to leave, and sighed once more.

"Also, I've wanted to say this for a long time. Go buck yourselves and your stupid ideas for my wedding, ideas I will never, ever use." she growled. "Session is adjourned."

The nobles watched in stunned silence as Cadance exited the room without any further words.

====

As Shining Armor stepped back from the balcony after speaking to the residents of Canterlot, he sighed and waved goodbye to them. Shining knew more than a few ponies would be disappointed about the change of plans, but they would have to cope with it.

"How'd it go?" he asked Cadance as she approached.

"Fine." Cadance said. "I nearly took one noble's head off with my magic when he protested, but fine otherwise."

"Good." Shining replied. "Well, Princess Luna, Thorax, and Spike are waiting for us at the train station."

"Did the Element Bearers already leave?" Cadance asked.

"They left about an hour ago." Spike said, coming up with his backpack ready. "They promised to take care of the library until Twilight returns."

"They'd better." Shining mumbled.

"Well, if we're all set, let's go!" Spike said as he led the way to the train station, which was cordoned off from onlookers by the Lunar Guards. As the three of them joined Luna and Thorax in the sleeper car, the train lurched off towards the boreal forest in the southeast of Equestria.

====
Atlas HQ, Roanoke

Main Atrium

"So, that's it." Twilight said, exhausted from the long session of teaching. "Any questions?"

"I believe that's all of them." Jonathan Irons replied. "Your magic is fascinating."

"Thanks." Twilight replied. "Well, now I suppose I ask what happens after this. I mean, where I am I supposed to stay?"

"Here." Irons said, standing up. "Miss Twilight, I'd like to offer you a position here at Atlas."

Twilight flinched and raised her eyebrows.

"You're giving me a job?" she asked.

"More than that." Irons said. "I'm offering you a living position while we work to return you home. You'll have the basic necessities, a roof over your head, and whatever else you might need."

"What's the catch?" Twilight asked.

"The catch is you'll be training under Gideon as an Atlas Operative." Irons said. "We could certainly use someone of your expertise here at Atlas. You may not be a soldier, but we'll make one out of you when we're finished."

Twilight sighed and looked away.

"I accept." she said. "Seeing as I don't have a lot of options, what else can I do?"

"Then welcome to Atlas." Irons said, shaking Twilight's hoof. "Let's get you over to the R&D facility, see if we can find an Exo-Suit in your size."

"Exo-Suit?" Twilight asked.

====

As the six of them entered the R/D Facility, a few technicians scanned Twilight's data into the Atlas Central system while others worked to fabricate a modified Exo-Suit for her.

"What's your progress at?" Irons asked.

"We've got her Exo Suit ready, Mr. Irons. She'll need thorough training, but it should fit perfectly to her unique body shape."

As Twilight stepped up onto a pad, she was handed a frame-like suit that was shaped like an outline of her body. As her hooves stepped into the four leg mounts, a tac-pad moved into position on her right leg.

As she stepped off the pad, she flexed the small finger attachments on her Exo-Suit.

"What are these for?" she asked.

"To make it easier for you to use firearms and other human tech." Gideon said. "Seeing as it's all designed for our species's body shape, we decided to make manipulation easier on your end. They fold into your Exo when not in use."

As Twilight headed towards Gideon, she nodded.

"Alright, where do we start?" she asked.

Author's Note

Update!

Yep, Twilight's got an Exo-Suit. And she's gonna kick serious ass.