Your Destined Partner

Chapters

Chapter 1: Sunburst
Chapter 2: Rumble
Chapter 3: Spike
Chapter 4: Zephyr Breeze

Chapter 1: Sunburst

The throne to the crystal place was occupied by Princess Cadance, happily sitting with a small scroll of diplomatic importance as she signed and sent it off with one flash of her horn disintegrating it into thin air. Alongside her, was her loving husband, Captain Shining Armor who had an anxious look on his face. Unlike most days where he stood proud as his position as the captain of the royal guards, he had something on his mind.

"Cadance, we need to talk."

"Yes, is something the matter dear?" she glance at him, curious about his concerned look.

"It's about this advertisement you put up in the morning papers." Shining explained, pulling up a newspaper he poofed into his possession, "It's this one over here."

The part of the page he made her look at was just a few paragraphs down from the front page, just on the bottom left corner with bold lettering: Your Destined Partner

But instead of worrying with him, Cadance went on chuckling away from Shinings face, "Hehehe, you mean that? No worries, just advertising my services to the Crystal Empire and the rest of the Equestria. You know my business as the Princess of Love?"

Shining brushed up on the idea, "So it's just like your usual counseling sessions?"

She shook her head, "No actually, it's a process that requires a very potent spell Twilight created using her noggin of hers. I was always fixing testy relationships, preventing divorces, or giving advice on love. Never in my life, have I been able to perfectly match two ponies up and form the perfect couple. That's until today! I've placed the advertisement just yesterday, and I'm anxious to get both stallions and mares to come crawling to me!"

"That seems fine, but..." Shining shoved the newspaper upclose to her face and pointed at the fine print with his foreleg, "What's this part about payment of 20,000 bits for failing to find their match? We have taxes to cover! Royal guards and staff to pay! Do you know how many diapers Flurry fills in a week!?"

"Oh, you worthy about that? I just put that there to entice ponies. She answered with the brightest smile on her face, "Besides, there's like a 0% chance I'll ever find a pony that I can't locate the perfect match too--"

"Excuse me, Princess Cadance?"

From the front of the long carpet that stretched along the path of their throne, a familiar voice came calling to her attention while approaching at a snail's pace. To her and Shining's surprise, it was a pony that they least expected to arrive at their throne room without being summoned.

"Sunburst?" said Cadance, dumbfounded to see their Royal Crystaller approaching willingly to their throne room. "What a surprise, what can I help you with?"

"You can do it, right?"

"Huh?"

"The paper...I saw it," he brought out a copy of the tabloid from his bag and pointed at the advertisement, "You can find ponies destined partners?! Is that correct!?"

"Ahh! So our first pony to discover the perfect match is our dear friend Sunburst!" Smiled Cadance, squealing from her seat, "While I do have the magical prowess to do just that, let me ask; Why are you so eager to know?"

"You know me, I just can't refuse to witness a brand new spell myself. And...my mom won't stop haggling me on when I'll find myself a nice mare to settle with," Sunburst cringed before cautiously asking, "Is the process safe by any means?"

Cadance answered. "It's completely safe! Let's get this over quickly, I have a meeting in half an hour."

Contempt by her confidence, Sunburst silently nodded as Cadance prepared to light her horn a faint glow. In just a split second began to form what appears to Sunburst a pink magic circle just below him, with multiple symbols forming the shape of a heart where he stood at the center of it. His heart began to race, seeing the magic circle pulsating a brighter pinkish glow.

'Woah! This is incredible!" he gawked at the amazing magic circle that was below his hooves.

Still concentrating on her powerful love magic, Cadance gave Sunburst a heads up to gain her attention, "Sunburst, the moment I induce the circle, your destined partner will appear right in front of you! They may be confused as to why they're summoned here, but I will do the rest. Are you ready!?"

"I can't wait to find out who it is!" Sunburst beamed as his face began to stare anxiously.

The bright glow fluctuated in brightness and began to fill the room and ended with a small explosion. It wasn't big enough to warrant any harm, just sparkles flying off everywhere and disintegrated into thin air. Sunburst took precautionary measures and covered his eyes with his left foreleg, patiently waiting for the light to die down and see...

"It's!" As Sunburst was ready to see the perfect match for him right in front of him, he found himself dumbfound instead, "...It's no one? What does this mean your majesty?"

"N-Nonsense!" rejected Cadance, sounding in denial of her unsuccessful attempt, "Maybe the receptions here are bad? Perhaps it'll take a couple of seconds for them to appear. Can you wait for a few more seconds?"

5 minutes later...

The three in the room waited for nearly 5 minutes as Sunburst anxiously waited for his results, sitting on the floor with a lot on his mind. This long period of silence filled the room with an awkward air, with Shining Armor biting his lowered lip and Cadance patiently waiting for somepony to show up. But nopony showed up...

"I-I don't think anypony's coming Sunburst," he had to give it to him, head lowered from the heartbreaking news.

"Are you telling me, that not even the Princess of Love can find my destined partner?" Sunburst's eyes were somber, sighing from where he stood, "...Aww man..."

Shining Armor didn't like the idea, but he was willing to comfort his best friend as he gently walked over to him and gave him a nice head pat, "It's alright soldier, you'll have your chance to shine one day. I guess we'll have to comply with the rules of the advertisement and give you your money. Cadance if you would...Cadance?"

He was shocked to see Cadance's mouth wide open as she felt a shiver down her spine, it was unlike her to be frightened like this out of the blue. Shining can even hear her hyperventilated breathing as the sweat beads started forming around her forehead area. Something inside her wasn't sitting right.

"No...impossible...that can't be right!" she stuttered, panicked as ever, "I probably made a mistake, that's all!"

She quickly poofed up a large scroll that reached to the floor as she scrambled to skim through it. The amount of ink written in it was an essay-sized piece of work that could pass as a bill in Canterlot. Her magic dragged the scroll down. This frantic gesture made Shining and Sunburst worried for her well-being.

"Honey? Should we give Sunburst his-"

"How!?" she cried out loud, tossing the scroll aside, "I did everything right! How is it that I can't locate his destined partner!?"

"Cadance!" he tried once more to get her attention, to where Cadance turned her head to Shining Armor, "I'm sorry that it didn't work, but I believe you owe Sunburst some money."

"This wasn't supposed to happen!" murmured Cadance, before cringing up a smile to Sunburst, "I'm so sorry Sunburst, I guess your too complicated for me to locate a match for you. Shining Armor will pay you upfront with his salary because you two are such good friends!"

"Huh!?" gasped Shining as he heard his wife insisting he pays up, "Hold on a minute! I didn't expect I would be giving him bits!"

She lowered her mouth to the level where his ear was and whispered, "I didn't expect this to happen! Just give him the money!"

"I refuse!" Shining stood up to his wife as he whispered back at her, "I'm saving for the limited-edition deluxe copy of-"

"JUST DO IT!" she shrieked up her royal Canterlot voice that shook the room, causing Sunburst to jump up for a second.

Remembering the horrid experience he had the last time she used her Canterlot voice caused Shining to shake his legs, "As you wish, honey-buns! Sunburst, follow me!"

Shining gestured to Sunburst to follow him to a nearby hall as Cadance was left with the mess of the large scroll and tension rising from her head. How could she be defeated so easily? perhaps she did cast the spell incorrectly and it came out as nothing, or maybe that Sunburst is destined to be with no pony at all? Nevertheless, she isn't going down without a fight. She quickly brought out a blank scroll and a quill pen as she scribbled down an angry letter to Twilight about this issue.

"I'll just have to make Twilight increase the effects of the spell. "

Meanwhile elsewhere...

"Hey! Come on their bro!" Thunderlane was hesitant to tell off his little brother pestering him on the seats of a train cart, "Why do you even care about that kind of stuff!? You're in grade school!"

"I know that, but I just want to see if there's a filly worthy for me!" Rumble answered with a pout.

"Well, aren't there any fillies in your class you find attractive? Perhaps I can give you a few pointers-"

"No! Because every time I try to talk to them, they always ask me about you!" Rumble interrupted him, "It's always 'What did your brother do yesterday?' or 'is your brother free to show off his flying skills.''

"Oh...I see..." cringed Thunderlane, "But why do you need me? I have canceled my training sessions for this."

"Because I need a legal guardian to see the princess, it's all over the advert!" his tiny forelegs propped up a newspaper he kept to the empty side of the seat as Rumbled shoved it in front of Thunderlane, "You can even get bits if she can't find my match! You know how many things I can get on the one-bit menu at Hay Burger with that money?"

"Alright little bro, I might even give it a shot myself." Thunderlane was content with trying out the spell, "I wonder too who my perfect match is..."

Chapter 2: Rumble

As disappointed as Cadance could ever be, she still couldn't fathom the fact her spell couldn't find Sunburst's perfect partner. The spell sought to create and perfect wasn't enough to live up to its name. She laid there, moping in her failure with her head resting on her right foreleg.

"Even after conducting a few test runs on animals and pets, the results were flawless. Why didn't the spell work on him?" Pondered Cadance, "Is it true that I've made a mistake? Or...no, that he doesn't have a destined partner, to begin with?"

"Cadance, it's only the first customer," Shining comforted his wife, gently patting her head and a small rub, "I bet the next one will be a guaranteed success, you just have to believe in yourself."

"Mmm, thanks, honey..."

"Excuse me, your highness!" came a crystal guard pony trotting his way up the end of the carpet, "There are two ponies who wish your services upon them! Shall I bring them in?"

"TWO!?" She squealed the second the guard broke the wonderful news to her, "Yeas! Send them in now!"

The guard went to trot back to the main doors and gave clearance to let the two ponies in. She knew it was two pegasi by the looks of their wings, but stunned herself by one of them being...a foal? Looking to be somewhere in elementary grade, she and Shining Armor gave curious faces as the older stallion flew in front of him.

"Uh... it's an honor to be in your presence, Princess Cadance!" The older stallion gave her a formal getting with a bow and pestering the foal to follow, "Little bro! Greet the princess as I told you!"

But the colt wasn't so compliant as he put on a pouty face next to him, "Can we just get this over with!?"

"Oh, I know you two!" snapped Shining, "You're that Wonderbolt Thunderlane and his little brother Rumble. I guess the popularity has made you anxious to find your match?"

"I guess, but it's Rumble who wants it more than me." corrected Thunderlane, "Kid is bugging me about finding the perfect one for him."

"Oh, I get what you're getting at kid!" Chuckled Shining as he made a sophisticated look on his face, "I mean, when I was your age, Hoo Boy."

"Ugh!" Scoffed Cadance, shrugging off her husband to talk to Rumble, "So Rumble, what made you come to me to discover your destined partner? You got a whole eight years of your school life ahead of you, time to explore your options and see what your trail leads yo-"

"Boring!" He blurted out loud, "I don't want to wait that long! I want to know now so that I don't have to worry about it later. Most girls in my class are scardey cats or weak little-"

Rumble was cut off by his brother covering his mouth with his large wing as he changed the subject. "Okay! Let's get this over with shall we Princess?"

"Okay, you can do this Cadance!" pumping herself up was the only thing Cadance could ever do as she took a strong deep breath moving out of her seat, "Alright Rumble, stand there and I'll do the rest. Thunderlane, if you would be a gentle colt and step back?"

The Wonderbolt complied with her order and took a few steps back to give her some space to do her work. Shining Armor followed behind Cadance to brace himself for the second attempt at her spell. The magical circle in the shape of a heart and the rotating letters were all familiar to him. To Rumble, he was a bit spooked out by the glowing gro beneath his little hooves.

"Are you doing alright bro!?" asked Thunderlane with his voice raised.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine!" he panted, "Just get it over with Princess!"

Cadance, still focusing on the steady glow from her horn, was hesitant at first to proceed onto the next step of the spell. But Shining Armor came to his comfort giving her a warm smile to put her at ease.

"You can do it!"

"Thanks!" she blushed, "I may be compliant giving 20,000 bits to a full-grown stallion, but I won't to some foal!"

"Wait, but I gave him the-"

"So Rumble! Are you ready to see who you're destined to be with?" she ignored her husband and asked the colt.

"Yes, I'm ready!" he cried out, "Just do it now!"

*POOF*

The throne room was once again filled with the bright glow from the magic circle collapsing and going off in an explosion, causing everypony in the room to avert their eyes from the light. Princess Cadance especially was eager to figure out once and for all of her spells worked as intended. She quickly glanced over Rumble's general direction and spotted a small figure; a pink pegasus lying on the side of their face as Rumble adjusted his eyes to see who it is.

"It worked?! IT WORKED!" Cadance squealed like it was Hearth's Warming day, her hooves were bouncy each step, "Honey, I just did the impossible and successfully located a ponies destined partner!"

Taking a glance over at the pony that magically appeared in front of the colt, Shining was unsure whether to be happy for her or concerned when he poked at Cadance, "Umm...Cadance, I think the spell failed again, take a look!"

"Hmm? What's wrong now? You could see the pink filly pegasus with curly blue..." Cadance quickly broke off her victory dance and saw the pegasus filly slowly waking up, "Oh, that doesn't look good..."

The pink pegasus, rising from her slumber, looked dazed at first by the unexpected change in the environment she was in. Taking almost a few seconds to clear her vision from the bright light, she flicked her light-blue mane with her head and looked outward to the distance, "W-Where am I? I was just still for one second, and I just magically came here..."

"Cadance! Why is Cozy Glow out of her stone prison!?" whispered Shining, trying not to get the filly's attention from behind her.

"I don't know! The spell is for locating one's destined partner!" she shrugged with her answer, "I guess that Cozy Glow and Rumble are destined to be together?"

"Destined! But she worked with Lord Tirek to drain Equestria of its magic and went all crazy trying to use Grogar's bell!" continued Shining, "You need to turn her back to stone, now!"

"I don't know the spell that turns creatures to stone!" she muttered back to him.

"Well, contact your aunt or something! This is probably going to end sour!"

"Wait, I want to see where this goes..." She stopped Shining from proceeding on, "Let's just listen,"

"Hey! Where the hay am I?" Cozy Glow quickly came through as she examined the whole room, "Is this the Crystal Empire? And who are you?!"

She looked over at Rumble, standing only a few feet away from him as the colt was seemingly gawking at her. While Thunderlane in the distance simply watched over them to not intervene at their first meet.

"How," Rumble was left speechless at the sight of her, trembling from his hind legs.

"Listen, Rumble!" behind Rumble was Shining Armor reassuring him, "I know you're afraid of her, just back away and..."

"HOW ARE YOU SO CUTE!?"

He was worked up to come up to her and got a good look at her face, it was the first time Rumble showed a bright smile on his face from his time here. Cadance, Shining, and Thunderlane all looked dumbfounded by Rumble's sudden change in attitude.

"Umm...excuse me?" cringed Cozy, "You're that Rumble I've seen occasionally in Cloudsdale. Why are you here with me!"

"Of course, It all makes sense!" an epiphany broke out in Rumble's mind, as he continued, "I'm destined to be with the most badass filly in Equestria, EVER! I always thought you were just another filly like the rest, but the way you manipulated ponies at the school of friendship was amazing! And your feat to drain Equestria's magic and fight with two other baddies against the Princess of Friendship and her friends!"

"T-Thank you?" Cozy doesn't know what to make of this at first, but quickly spotting what he said in the beginning, "Hold up! Did you say, destined to be with?"

But Rumble ignored her and glanced over at Cadance from the distance, "I doubted you when I saw the papers about finding perfect matches but now I'm a believer! You're a miracle worker, Princess!"

"No, wait! What's going on here!?" Cozy wasn't sure what the whole deal is, she tried another attempt to get answers, "Is he talking about ME being his true love?"

"Umm...correct!" Cadance forcefully smiled, "It seems that my magic spell worked a bit too well this time and freed you...your welcome?"

Rumble was eyeing Cozy Glow, causing her to blush a bit as he started to open up to her, "Hey, since we're destined to be together, how about we get to know eachother? How about a date!?"

"What the?" she couldn't stand what was going on, as Cozy gritted her teeth, "You expect me to believe that a Princess used a spell to find perfect pairs? You expect me to accept a date from some colt I've met right now? And you expect me that I'll be spending the rest of my life with you!?"

"Yes?"

"Okay!"

"Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. I guess..." but when Rumble went back in his mind to hear her answer, he gasped, "Wait!? You said yes!?"

"Yeah..." she quickly turned her fierce look into a sheepish glare as her blush grew tremendously, "I kinda had a thing for you when I always see you in town or Cloudsdale, but I never really tried anything because of my plans. I don't want anypony to find out I had a plan to become the Queen of Friendship."

"Hang on their young lady!" Shining Armor quickly rushed in front of them to give her a stern look, "This better not be some ploy to get out of your stone prison and hatch a revenge scheme!"

"No, it isn't!" she shook her head.

"I know what's up with you and you're manipulative nature!" Shining Armor went for another attempt to berate her, "You're a sociopath that takes control of ponies' emotions and treats them like your pawns! You're just going to use Rumble to take control of his feelings and use him to form your new empire!"

Cozy was sighing longingly, tired from Shining Armor's conspiracy about her, "Look here buddy, I've used friendship to destroy a friendship, even tried to get two rotten baddies to get along as friends and make use of the most unstoppable trio in Equestria. When that failed, I gave up that dream of mine and accepted my fate. Even if I did plan out something a few minutes after I broke free, I would just be stopped by Twilight, her friends, Sandbar, or his friends."

"But...but..."

"I don't believe you understand, but my malicious days are over!" Cozy walked over next to Rumble as he offered his foreleg for her to hold onto, "Now, I want to spend as much time with Rumble and potentially form something stronger than friendship."

"Aw yeah! Come on Thunderlane! I want to get ice cream together!" said Rumble, before realizing something he forget, "Or you want a turn at this?"

"No thanks, I want to surprise myself along the way," the stallion shook his head, turning to the Princess and Shining Armor to wave goodbye with his foreleg, "Well, see ya! I'll make sure to check on her in case she does something bad."

Thunderlane, alongside Cozy and Rumble, turned back to exit the palace throne room as they left Shining Armor in a stagnant state leaving nothing but a slow blinking of his eyes. Cadance rushed to his side as he broke off of his silent state.

"H-Honey...what do you make of this situation?" he went to ask Cadance next to him.

Candace slowly nodded, "Wow, Rumble did better with the ladies than you!"

Somewhere in the castle friendship...

"Good grief Sunburst!" Spike gasped, as he was sitting at one end of the library with Sunburst and a huge source of bits resting on the table next to him, "Did you win the lottery?"

"No, it was from Cadance's ad on the papers." He answered with a lack of expression in his voice, "She couldn't find my destined lover, so I got paid the compensation."

"Oh, that spell Twilight was working her butt off?" The dragon scratched his chin, vaguely remembering, "Man, sorry that it didn't work for you. What are you going to do with the money?"

"Maybe buy a few books, magical relics for collection, or pay taxes," he threw out a few ideas in mind, "I just don't know what to do with this much?"

"Oh! Try your hooves on investing! You could get like ten times back if you follow the right trends and buy the appropriate stocks!" Suggested Spike, "Hmm, maybe I should give Cadance a visit too, not that it matters because I sort of know my destined creature to be with."

"Alright, I'll look into it." Sunburst was imagining the idea Spike came up with letting the idea float in his mind. "Just don't know if I'll get any profit from it..."

Chapter 3: Spike

It was that time when the Royal Couple got together at the dining room for lunchtime as Cadance poked her plate of salad with a fork she lifted by her magic and Shining Armor on the other side of the table enjoying the heaping plate of corn dogs (They're carrots dipped in batter and fried). It was a rather quiet lunch for them until Cadance was reluctant to get something she had in mind out of her.

"So what should we do now that we just let a criminal out of her prison?" Shining from across the table asked.

"I already sent auntie Celestia a letter about the situation, let's just hope she doesn't mess with the power of true love," Candace informed. "Still, I did not expect the spell to work too well, what if some random creature is destined to partner with Chrysalis or Tirek for some apparent reason to which I cannot comprehend!?"

"Just, how does the spell even work?"

Cadance tried to find the words to her answer as she struggles, "Let's see, the spell Twilight formulated uses a complex string of astrological foresight comparing every creature's zodiac signs and tapping into their cognitive— I don't know, it sounds like a bunch of pseudo-science mumbo jumbo. All I know is that it just works!"

"Oh Twi and her complex spells..." sighed Shining, "They always come back to haunt me."

"Hey! Sorry if I'm interrupting your lunch!"

They heard a voice coming from the doorway connecting the hallway to the dining hall as they turned their heads to see a familiar dragon and hero of the Crystal Empire nonchalantly strolling inside. Spike was just finishing off the last piece of a gemstone he had on him taking a nice whole bite inside his mouth and letting his teeth crunch on it.

"If it isn't the savior of the Empire, Spike!" Shining teased him, "Does Twilight have something urgent to be discussed in person?"

"No, nothing of the sort, just thought I'd drop by for a quick minute." The dragon shook his head, acting a bit more carefree than usual hoping on an empty seat, "Sunburst just came back with a butt load of bits after doing your destined partner summoning session. That sure sucks for him."

"So you saw the papers?" She cringed back, looking away from him.

He nodded slowly, "Well I was there when Twilight was creating the spell, never really had the chance to test it out myself. Not that it matters since I'm sure my destined partner will be a special some pony of you know who..."

"Oh! Of course, you did!" Cadance gave home a warm smile across the table. "Maybe if you want to, I could perform the spell just for fun!"

The sheepish dragon softly spoke, "Well I wouldn't want to be a bother to you, but since I'm already here; what the hay?!"

"Hmm, does the spell work on dragons too?" Asked Shining to Cadance, taking another bit of his corndog.

Taking another fork full of greens in her mouth, Cadance happily answered, "Yes, it works on all types of creatures, but I refrain from offering the service to the griffons. We don't want to become a financial drain because of their greedy mindset now don't we?"

"Oh, makes sense!"

"So, are you up to it?" Spike begged to fidget with his two claws in each hand.

She brushed on the idea, having a slight hunch on who Spike's true romantic partner could be. It would be pretty much a waste of her precious time to have the fashionista magically appear to her. But who knows, maybe Cadance would be surprised to see a different creature besides Rarity. After finishing the last pickings of salad on her plate, she got up from the chair and began to prepare herself, "We'll make this quick since we got to check on Flurry Heart soon."

"Oh, she doesn't eat with you at lunchtime?" curiously, Spike asked.

"Not anymore, we keep her room fortified in an anti-magic barrier preventing her from teleporting out and outside magic affecting her." answered Shining, turning his attention to Cadance, "Are you sure you should be doing this in the dining room Cadence?"

"It will be fine!" Cadance reassured him, taking a few steps back from the table, "Spike. Please get into position.

The humble dragon followed every dock man and flapped his wings to land softly on the spot Cadence pointed out. His heart began racing, his voice was still. Cadance began to summon the magic circle a third time, reaching the bottom of Spike's feet as he saw the pink circle around him. The moment he was expecting Rarity to appear right in front of him as he kept expectations high.

"Geez, I wonder who it will be?" Sarcasm filled the tone of Cadance's voice, trying not to expect much from this session.

*POOF*

The micro explosion wore off when Spike scrambled to look at the creature standing before him, with an intensive smile on his face. He was seemingly glad to see such a beautiful face in front of him. "Oh! Of course, It would be you! I wouldn't doubt ever to see you as my destined partner Rarity!"

The creature that was Rarity cringed as she stood bipedal just like him, "Spike!? Do have a loose screw in your noggin? My name is not Rarity, it's Ember!"

His entire world shattered into millions of species like glass when Spike saw the taller dragon bestowed in front of him, "E-E-E-Ember!? Not Rarity!?"

"Woah! Did not see that one coming..." Cadance smiled dastardly seeing unexpected results from finding Spike's destined lover, "IT seems that Spike's love life is about to spice things up! Does he seem to be destined to be with Ember, not Rarity? I owe Rainbow Dash 20 bits for this..."

"Where in the Dragonlords name are we anyway?" Ember took a quick check of her surroundings as the saliva from her mouth began secreting out her mouth, mesmerized by the place's infrastructure, "It's...It's like a palace entirely made of crystal...what is this place!?"

"You're at the Crystal Empire Palace..." Spike answered her, but quickly change topics to get his head around this, "Cadance! This is probably some sort of mistake! Do the spell again!"

"Now-now Spike, you should be appreciated that the spell found somecreature for you..." when Cadance was about to move her head to Ember, she saw the dragon fully teethed onto a crystal pillar as she screamed, "Excuse me miss Ember! That is not for eating!"

"Huh?!" Ember flustered, retracting her teeth from the pillar and spotting the pink alicorn, "Wait? Are you that Princess of Love I've been hearing about?"

"Oh, why yes I am!"

"Yeah, I know you! You're Candice!"

"Uh, not quite..." cringed Cadance, correcting the clueless dragon. "It's Cadance,"

"I could've sworn it was Candice?" the dragon scratched her chin, trying to get into the heart of the detail, "Are you responsible for summoning me here with your horn magic?"

"Yes, now this may seem quite a lot to take in but," Cadance cleared her throat up to add some suspense to the mix, "I've used a spell that would find creatures destined romantic partner, and to all of our surprise; you and Spike are seemingly a complete match for eachother."

This caused Ember's cheek to go bright red from the scene, covering her gasp with her claws, "Me and Spike, are truly destined for each other?"

"Yes, it appears so," nodded Cadance, " I know it may take some time to process, but please understand this is all pre-determined by the passage of fate. Your destiny with Spike has already been—"

"Cadance! PLEASE!" Spike made her come to a stop seeing his flustered face, "Do the spell again! I know for a fact that my fate is with Rarity!"

The princess shook her head, "Spike, you know that the results won't in fact change. You must find it in your heart that you'll find better happiness with Ember."

However, Spike was hesitant "But can't you see that we can't be destined together! You're...you're..."

"I'm what?" the moment she heard those words from Spike, Ember snapped at Spike giving him a cold stare, "Tell me...what makes me NOT qualified Spike?"

"Uh, I...well..." like he was on his last legs, Spike quickly jerked his head to Shining Armor's direction, "Dude! Help me out!"

But the royal gaurd captain responded by lighting up his horn preparing to leave the scene, "Sorry, I got to go feed Flurry!"

With that, he teleported away from the dining table and left Spike without any backup from a nearby bro. Ember stood with her arms crossed as she patiently waited for Spike to answer her. The atmosphere grew awkward around them, leaving Cadance to wait for something to happen.

"M-May I suggest som-"

"Shh!" shushed Ember, keeping her piercing stare at Spike, "I'm waiting for an answer!"

One big full from Spike's throat already made him nervous to speak up, "It's just...you're not really the type I expect to be with, you know?"

"Oh, I complete my understand." Her sarcasm was blatant enough to cause Spike to curl up in fear, "Don't want to be with your kind, huh!?"

"I didn't exactly say that—"

"Look! Let me tell you something!" Ember grabbed the smaller dragon with her claws on his shoulders to make him look up at her, "You got to wake up from your fantasies with that pony! She's never going to see you more as just a friend, nor she will change her mind in the future. She's too good for you! When will you realize there may be another creature out there who can give you the same feelings as that posh pony?! Some creature who's close to you, probably grabbing you by the shoulders and speaking to you in the present..."

"Wait!" he took seconds in his mind to puces together as Spike realized, "A-Are you implying-"

"-Yes I do!" nodded Ember, "If Candice..."

"Cadance!" Barked Cadance.

"Cadance, whatever!" Ember pulled up an endearing smile back on Spike, "If her spell to find the creature's destined partner for life is true, then I want to see it for myself if we're meant for eachother."

"But we're way too far apart! This is not ideal in the moral compass."

"So what? I'm not asking you to marry me on the spot, let's just take things slowly. But while I'm already here..."

The dragon slowly lowered her head and reached out to peck Spike in the cheek, feeling her firm yet comfortable lips implanted on his cheek. This caused Spike's eyes to dilate from this sensation, completely silent with only his orderly breathing as he experience pure bliss from Ember's kiss.

Meanwhile, at the lovely Ponyville boutique, Rarity was in her prime stitching up a brand new dress with her work glasses on and having complete utter silence and total focus on her workstation. But just in a quick flash, she suddenly stopped dead when a tingling sensation in her head caused her to halt completely. What makes it worse was the worried look on Sweetie Belle's face noticing her sister.

"What's the matter Rarity?" Sweetie Belle came to her sister's side feeling complete anxiety.

"I don't know," answered Rarity in a vague matter, "I feel...a disturbance."

Back to the Crystal Empire dining hall, Spike was still in a trance that made Candace feel worried for the poor guy. Moving closer to him and waving her foreleg to his eye level.

"Spike! Can you hear us!? Do you need medical attention!?"

"E-Ember..." He slowly started to speak up, only reciting a single name at first, but said, "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Pfft..." Ember shrugged off her little stunt, turning away from him, "That was probably nothing to you, must have gotten loads of kisses from Rarity."

"This was different, she gives me her typical friendship kisses when I do something good for you. " Said Spike, feeling somber from reminding, "I know I don't have a chance with her, but maybe... MAYBE something might happen to us in the future. I always say to myself 'Today's the day!', but it was me coping with the harsh reality. I even came to Cadance because I thought I was sure who my destined partner was. I'm sorry that I said that you weren't my type."

Ember shrugged it off, but couldn't hide the single tear running down her cheek, "It's cool, it doesn't hurt me at all..."

"Please! Let me make it up to you!" he insisted to her trying to cheer Ember up with a smile, "A grand tour of the Crystal Empire by the legendary hero Spike!"

"Hehe, hero!?" that little exclaimer made Ember crack a smile, "This I got to hear!"

"Umm...excuse me!" Cadance partially interrupted their head-to-head, "Spike, now that you got your feelings situated, how do you make of your destined partner?"

"I'd say that you finally got my head cleared after battling an agonizing emotional turmoil with Rarity. My minds made up, I'm going to pursue a new future for myself, a future with my dragon empress..." he took a deep breather taking in a sigh, "I guess I was surprised by the results after all."

"Great, way better than the last one where I freed Cozy Glow from her stone prison!"

"What?"

"What!?" The poker face on Cadence grew intensely, "Nope! I didn't do that, you must be hearing things!"

Somewhere in the lovely town of Ponyville, two pegasi sat across a table outside a cafe enjoying lunch together. The lanky aqua marine pegasus cried out loud with his two forelegs slamming the table.

"Come on Fluttershy! When will Rainbow Dash accept we're life partners?!" cried the lanky aqua marine pegasus. "I've tried everything to express my undying devotion towards her! It always ends up me with a black eye or my wings in a knot!"

"Now Zephyr, perhaps you should learn Rainbow Dash doesn't like you that way." Fluttershy showed an enduring smile to comfort her little brother, "What did you think all of those black eyes mean?"

"She probably has a different way of expressing her feelings?"

She sighed, "Look, I don't know if it will help, but I will take you to the Crystal Empire to meet with Princess Cadance to perform her destined partner spell. If you do find your fated creature to be with, will you please stop harassing my friend every day!?"

"R-Really? She can do that!?" Zephyr Breeze frantically asked, panting very heavily, "This is brilliant! Now Rainbow Dash will stop beating me if our love is predestined by fate! Let's go first thing tomorrow!"

"J-Just...don't be disappointed..."

"Hmm? What's that you say?" Zephyr turned his head to get after her sister's mumbling.

"Forgot I said anything!"

Chapter 4: Zephyr Breeze

The next day arrived in the Crystal Empire, and quite a busy morning for Shining Armor leaving in a hurry for Canterlot for an important busniess trip; leaving Cadance some time for herself in the meantime. After an agonizing feeding session for Flurry Heart, she roams the halls greeting the guards with her signature smile. Yesterday's spell casting of finding destined partners did a number on her. But one, in particular, she couldn't get her head around; Sunburst.

"Perhaps I did make an error." Pondered the princess, still roaming the halls, "What other possibility could happen to prevent his destined lover from showing; maybe they hale from another dimension? Or was it possible he doesn't have one? Another thing is that maybe something prevents the creature in question from appearing. Maybe some magical interference or an anti-magic barrier...no...it can't be...NO...NOOOOOOO!"

"Cadance! Is everything alright!?"

The pony reaching up to her was surprisingly Fluttershy as she flew with her brother just behind her trail to check on the commotion from Cadance.

"F-Fluttershy?!" Cadance took a deep breather as she spotted a dear friend out of nowhere, "What are you doing here this early?"

"Woah! Your mane is as beautiful in the magazines!" Zephyr looked at her lush mane, "Easily in the top 10 fashionable mane styles of Equestria!"

"Excuse me, I'm not quite sure we've met?" Cadance took a gander at the strange stallion, "But thanks for the compliments!"

"My apologies, this is my younger brother Zephyr Breeze." the sheepish pegasus turned to give her brother a formal introduction, "He's an expert mane stylist from Ponyville and we came here to--"

"Give my luscious mane one of your touches?" Guessed Cadance, "Sorry to burst your bubbles, but only my most trusted stylists and my husband is allowed to mess with my precious mane."

"It's not that, he came here for the destined partner summoning from the papers!" Fluttershy gave her a correction, "Sorry if it's too early for you, you must be busy with-"

"Of course! I was just heading to my throne right now!" sighed a huge relief from Cadance, "I'll lead you to it!"

"Hold that thought, your majesty!" Zephyr halted Cadance from pressing onwards, as he bit his lower lips in agony, "Mother nature is calling to me! I need to find a restroom!"

"Oh, it's just down this hall, three doors to the left."

He zipped over to the stallion's restroom marked by the symbol of the door which gave the mares some time to chat as they waited. Cadance was read set to out more about Zephyr as she glittered in front of Fluttershy.

"So Fluttershy, is your brother that desperate to know who is destined one is?"

She answered with a slow nod, "He's always been haggling Rainbow Dash for dates and such to the point where I can't take it anymore. He thinks Rainbow Dash will appear right in front of him after this spell."

"Well who knows?" shrugged Cadance. "I've had some unexpected results from yesterday's wave, perhaps your brother does get what he ever so desires?"

Guilt ran down Fluttershy's spine, "I...just don't want Zephyr to be upset when he doesn't get Rainbow Dash as his true love partner. He throws a fit every time things don't go his way. I want you to talk to him about being open to more options."

"I'll try to speak to him, make him open to more choices." Cadance determined look gave Fluttershy a relieving sigh.

Soon as their little chat ended, Zephyr trotted majestically to them keeping a giddy look on his face, "And I'm back from the Jon! Alright, let's start this thing so that I can be with my Rainbow Dash and see the look on her face when she realizes we are destiny!"

The three stood in the throne room, with Zephyr patiently waiting for Cadance to perform the spell on him. Fluttershy stood on the sidelines to avoid interfering and keeping her secret shut tight. Cadance began by walking up to him to ask him a few questions before starting.

"So Zephyr, is their anypony, in particular, you had eyes on?" she started nonchalantly.

"Well, there is only one, and she's quite the specimen herself!" answered Zephyr with his carefree attitude, "You know Rainbow Dash, I presume?"

Cadance was obligated to get the colts to trust her, she nodded, "Yes! She's great friends with my sister-in-law and your sister too! Fluttershy mentioned you're always trying to get her attention."

"And it always ends with a black eye on my face." Zephyr shortly sobbed, "When will she learn that she can't outrun me at the slightest?"

"Hmm..." Cadance pondered vigoursoly on what to say next, she went and said, "Why do you think you two are destined for each other?"

Zephyr cringed as the questions kept on rolling, "Man, what's with all these questions all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, just want to get to know you a bit more before beginning." She threw a smile back at him, "Tell me, is your crush on her solely on how long you've known her?

"Well, not only that, she's the fastest pegasus I've ever laid my eyes on!" he started to reminisce more, "Always on top of everypony, never afraid of anything that gets in her way, and overall the definition of peek performance. But mostly, it's because of her gorgeous mane of hers! It's utterly perfect; a medley of colors forming a bright colorful rainbow."

"So, if I were to use the spell on you and ended up with no pony like her, what will you do?" she asked him with a hint of curiosity on her face, "You say it will be her but who knows; the passage of fate might say otherwise."

He was unprepared to answer this many questions, "I know in my heart Rainbow Dash isn't the one for me, but I always force it upon her just to. get her attention! I don't have an answer for you princess, I really must know who I am truly belonging. I guess the worse possible thing that could happen is if Rainbow Dash's destined partner is somepony I know; maybe that jerk stylist from my work, or even somepony I'm related to."

The look on Fluttershy's face caused a stir of emotions inside her, keeping the biggest poker face she could sport. Cadance quickly continued her little chat with the stallion. "Look here Zephyr, it's not the end of the world if Rainbow Dash doesn't appear right before you. There is a time when you have to give up such a longtime crush as they probably don't see you as a potential romance partner. She's probably not seeing somepony or doesn't plan on in the future. If the pony in front of you isn't what you wished for, take action and get to know them!"

"...O-Okay then..." He nodded slowly amongst the small speech he was given, "I guess me. I'm ready!"

"Okay, get ready!"

The activation of the magic circle went smoothly as ever, channeling her magic through it. This caused Zephyr to jump up a little from the ground beneath him transforming. Flutter why kept witnessing the process from a safe distance trying not to interrupt the princess's magic.

"This is getting a bit intense for me Princess!" Zephyr could hear the utter fear inside his voice, trembling from his hind legs, "I'm dying to know if Rainbow Dash truly is my destiny!"

"Brace yourself, protect your eyes from the light!" cried Cadance, focusing her energy on keeping the circle intact, "I'm about to induce the spell!"

He obliged her order and shut his eyes tight to fill the suspense in his heart and mind. Fluttershy kept her bottom lip occupied with her teeth pressed down on it. Within the next few seconds, the circle collapsed, and Cadance activated the full extent of the spell. One which flashes of light later, she could see the visible body of another mare that stood just inches away from Zephyr. Cadance couldn't be so surprised to see a figure that stood before him.

"Ah, it seems like we have another successful cast, and a wonderful mare appearing in front of Zephyr— OH MY GOODNESS!!" She slowly broke like a scratched record as her whole jaw dropped from utter terror.

"WHO DARES DISTURB THE PANCAKE BREAKFAST OF THE PRINCESS OF NIGHT!?"

There was only one pony in Equestria that would deliver her words with an authoritative attitude when her breakfast is disturbed; Princess Luna. It caused Cadance to go into a state of shock that stopped all motor functions and froze on sight. Fluttershy however, watched in agony with a whole wave of emotions flowing inside hee.

"P-P-Princess Luna!?" she shrieked from a distance. "Is this...does that mean..."

Shooting his eyes wide open to see the glorious alicorn, Zephyr followed his sister's flabbergasted look, "Hang on a sec! Princess Luna?! You serious!?"

"If it isn't Zephyr Breeze," Luna quelled her royal voice to greet the stallion calmly, "To what do I owe the pleasure of mysteriously appearing right before your very eyes?"

"I...uh..."

"Speak up now, I need to get back to my precious stacks of came before they get cold!" She tempted him to speak more thoroughly.

An assortment of feelings tingled Zephyr as he felt clueless about what to think about this outcome. He would graciously reject anypony besides Rainbow Dash, but he was "I came here to Princess C-Cadance to see who my destined romantic partner is, and a-apparently me and you are...destined for one another.

"R-Really?" gawking to no surprise as Luna's face lit up a bright red, turning behind her to spot Cadance, "Dear niece! Is this truly want fate entails for me?!"

"I'm afraid it is true auntie, Zephyr Breeze truly is your fated romantic partner." the distressed look on Cadance's face gave her a frightened tone, "I'm well aware you are somewhat discombobulated by this--"

"Hahahahaha! FINALLY!" The princess laughed maniacally, with her face reaching up for each cackle.

"Eh?" Cadance, Fluttershy, and Zephyr mewled in unison.

"For many moons! I and my sister were forbidden to seek romantic partners as it would tarnish our reputation as rulers of Equestria. " Luna dramatically told them with a saddened look, "I'VE DONE MY WAITING! THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF IT! And thanks to my genius niece, not only that my search has come to an end, I've beaten my sister to the punch as well!"

The impact of her words was too heavy to contain, Luna was deeply serious about this. Much to Zephyr Breeze, he was left speechless and lost in thought pondering different types of stuff. It wasn't until Luna slowly reached up to him as he looked her straight in the eyes.

"So it is I and Zephyr Breeze who are predestined for one another?" She carefully observed Zephyr circling him, "I see...two younger siblings who are overshadowed by their older and probably more popular sibling? A perfect match indeed!"

"W-W-Woah dang! I did not expect this at all!" sweating to the brim was all Zephyr could do to comprehend all of this, "It's one thing to get somepony I'm quite familiar with, but the damn Princess of the night?! I'm just at a loss of words now..."

"Umm, Zephyr?" calling from behind him was Fluttershy who approached him, "Now that you know who is your actual destined partner, who do you feel about Rainbow Dash?"

"Rainbow who?" he shrugged at the nest mention of the name, "That fast flying what's-her-name doesn't even compare to Princess freaking Luna!"

"He's correct!" cried Luna, "Rainbow Dash might be athletic and fast, but when can she control the dream world or have a magnificent flowing mane like me?!"

"When I look at it closely, your mane is the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen! Beating Cadance by a long shot!" gawked Zephyr, glistening his eyes at her mane, "I've never stylized one with its gravitational pull."

"Oh? Would you like to do the honors of maintaining a mane of cosmic proportions?!" offered Luna, showing a small faint blush on her cheeks. "I'll treat you to a very good dream, and other stuff if you're getting my gist."

Zephyr nodded profoundly. "Yes ma'am!"

"Woah-Woah-Woah! Back up there!" like a referee giving bared card, Cadance stepped forward to too all of this from moving forward, "You can't date my auntie! That is just...so unprecedented. Remember...what...I...said..."

Reminiscing a few minutes ago, she could not dare to foolish her sentence as Cadance remembered what she said back then. It left her as silent as water.

"Come on Cadance, you already did the spell and that is that." strangely, Fluttershy was on board with this strange hookup being on her brother's side, "Look on the bright side; at least he didn't get somepony like Flurry Heart."

"SHUT-UP! IT CAN'T BE TRUE!"

The emotional reaction caused by Fluttershy's words made Cadance use her magic to teleport out of her throne room leaving the pegasus dumbfounded by what set her off.

"Oh, was it something I said?" Fluttershy asked herself, turning to Zephyr and Luna who spoke to one another, "Guys?"

While ignoring his sister, Zephyr rambled on about ideas from his head to Princess Luna, "So I was thinking having a whole city named after myself, it shall be called Zephyr Heights."

"I see, with my authority, I can pester Twilight about sanctioning a city renaming," smirked Luna.

It was at that moment on Fluttershy took a huge sigh out of her lungs, "At least he's happy...I guess?"

Somewhere within the Changeling hive...

"What the hay is this?!" Scoffed Thorax from his throne glancing over at the newspaper, "Destined partner? Princess Cadence? Hmph! This is absurd, there's no way she could just poof up your fated romantic partner! I need to get to the bottom of this..."