When I Loved You

Princess Celestia paced around the throne room with a stressed look on her face. Her teeth were gritted together and her wings were opened defensively. Luna sat on her sister's throne, leaning in her hoof. There was a bag of chips sitting on her lap and she chewed on them loudly as she watched her sister panic.

"Sister you're being overdramatic," Luna stated. Celestia turned around to face her sister, furrowing her brows.

"I'm not being overdramatic. My niece is getting married and her wedding needs to be perfect. There was already an anonymous threat and we have no leads on them. All I can do is enforce extra security so I don't start a panic!" Celestia exclaimed, now completely stressed out. Luna loudly rummaged in the chip bag with her hoof before pulling out a chip.

"That's rough." Luna stated, popping the chip in her mouth. Celestia's ears flattened and she gave her sister an annoyed look.

"Stop eating on my throne, you're going to get crumbs on it." She said. Luna looked Celestia in the eye and crushed up a few chips before sprinkling the crumbs onto the throne. Celestia levitated the back of the throne, tipping it over. Luna toppled down the carpet, falling face-first onto the ground. Luna looked up at her sister with a grumpy look.

"Luna this is serious. There's a threat to Equestria that no one should know about. I don't even know how dangerous this threat is." Celestia explained. Luna stood up and went to say something comforting, but the throne rooms opening. Five guards stood at the door with there spears upwards. They all stepped to the side to reveal Princess Cadance.

Celestia's face lit up when she saw her niece. Cadance laid her eyes on Celestia and tensed up, freezing for a few seconds. Cadance gave a smile continued to walk to her aunt. Luna approached Cadance and stuck out her hoof in a friendly manner.

"It is nice to meet you. I'm your Aunt Luna." Luna greeted. Cadance looked Luna up and down with a blank look before walking past her.. Luna blinked in surprise. Cadance walked over to Celestia, seeming to be completely enamored at her.

"Cadance, it's so good to see you again. How have things been going?" Celestia asked. Cadance stared up at her aunt before pulling her into a big hug. She nuzzled into Celestia's chest, holding back tears.

"I missed you so much," Cadance said. Celestia blinked in surprise before hugging her niece back. She stroked her niece's hair.

"Cadance, I've never seen you act like this. Are you doing alright?" Celestia asked. Cadance pulled away from the hug and sniffled, wiping her eyes.

"I'm just a little stressed about the wedding." She said, dismissively waving her hoof. Celestia gave her a sympathetic look.

"If you don't want to worry about your wedding, I can get some ponies to handle some things for you. I already have the perfect ponies in mind." Celestia stated happily. Cadance gave a large smile.

"That sounds wonderful. Now I'm going to spend time with my lovely fiance." Cadance said before turning around and leaving the throne room. The door closed behind her with a slam. Celestia cocked an eyebrow and looked over to Luna.

"Did Cadance seem off to you?" Celestia asked. Luna shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, I've never met her," Luna stated. Celestia thought for a few seconds.

"She was definitely acting different. She never gets so excited to see me to the point where she's in tears. She would also never just ignore someone new. She would greet them happily." Celestia said. Luna shrugged her shoulders.

"She said she was stressed about the wedding. Maybe she was just distracted." Luna said. Celestia let out a hum. Luna could be right but for some reason, it just felt wrong. Celestia had raised Cadance since she was a young filly and she had never acted like that. Celestia shook her head and turned around. She didn't have time to worry about that at that moment. She needed to send a letter to Twilight.

Princess Celestia looked out the open kitchen window, watching Princess Cadance walk around the Canterlot Gardens. Something about how she moved and how she spoke wasn't right. Cadance looked around the garden as if she were looking for something. A hummingbird flew over to Cadance, nuzzling onto her cheek. Cadance looked at the hummingbird and hissed, snapping her teeth at it. Celestia let out a gasp. When Cadance opened her mouth, it looked like she had fangs and a forked tongue. Celestia leaned closer and squinted, trying to get a closer look.

"Sister, what are you doing?" Luna asked, making Celestia jump in surprise. She glared at her younger sister.

"I told you to stop sneaking up on me." Celestia said in a hushed whisper. Luna looked out the window to see Cadance and rolled her eyes.

"Oh my stars Celestia, she's not suspicious!" Luna shouted. Celestia covered her sister's mouth and ducked down out of sight.

"Shush, I don't want her to know that I'm watching her," Celestia said in a hushed whisper. Luna rolled her eyes again and stood up, walking away.

"You're being ridiculous sister, she hasn't done anything wrong," Luna said before walking out of the kitchen. Celestia puffed her cheeks out and stood back up, looking out the window. Cadance was gone. Celestia angrily stomped her hoof on the ground. If Luna hadn't distracted her she would have known where she was at that moment.

Celestia walked out of the kitchen, making her way to the throne room. She needed some time to think about Cadance. Stress doesn't just make ponies hiss at hummingbirds. And stress definitely didn't make ponies grow fangs and a forked tongue. What villain did Celestia know that hated hummingbirds, had fangs, and a forked tongue? As Celestia thought, she entered the throne room, only to stop in surprise.

Cadance was laying on her throne, rubbing her face against the armrest. Her wings were spread open and her eyes were closed. She had a smile on her face and she hummed to herself. She seemed to be very happy.

"Cadance?" Celestia asked in a surprised tone. Cadance's eyes opened and she sat straight up. She looked over to Celestia and let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh, Aunt Celestia, I didn't know you were here!" Cadance exclaimed nervously. Her cheeks were red.

"What were you doing?" Celestia asked. Cadance let out a mix of a cough and a laugh.

"I just heard how comfy your throne was so I was just testing it out." Cadance said with a wide smile. Celestia let out a chuckle.

"You can sit on my throne any time you want." Celestia said in a comforting tone. Cadance's face turned red and she took a step past Celestia.

"I should get going, I need to make sure all of the wedding planners are all doing the right things. Bye!" Cadance said with an awkward wave before running out of the room. Celestia gave a confused look.

Now she knew Cadance was acting odd. She was never nervous or afraid around Celestia unless she was hiding something. Celestia needed to go on a stakeout.