“Ugh… Okay, Twilight. No more pizza before… bwuh?”

Twilight Sparkle stood up in the middle of… somewhere she had never seen before. The world rolled away from her into a faintly lit backdrop of blue and swirling white clouds. The ground seemed made out of some kind of pleasantly springy, white material that was cloudlike but not precisely cloud. Tiny sparkles of purple and pink magic floated silently in the background, and there was an eerie sense of silence. “Um… Hello?” she called out, hearing her voice echo back at her. “W...where am I?”

There was silence, and… three figures walked out of the mists, hazy and wavery at first, until… “Princess Celestia! Luna! Cadence!” Twilight’s heart surged, and she galloped over as best she could to where they were standing, all with smiles on their faces. Cadence herself looked particularly happy to see her here, and she held up her hoof just before Twilight made to pounce. “But… What are you all doing here?”

Celestia shook her head slowly. “In truth, my most faithful student? Even I do not entirely know. All I know is that you have done something that has never been done before... and that nopony could have possibly predicted. You have merged two kinds of magic, and from that created an entirely new kind of magic. One that has never been seen before, in this world, or in any other.” Gone was any sign of a mask or hidden emotions. All that remained was a happy, if weary mare, though somehow less weary than Twilight had seen her before. “I think it is time I told you some of what I have kept hidden from you all of your life.”

Twilight stared, but Cadence’s little headshake convinced her not to blurt anything out. Celestia sighed and bowed her head. “A long time ago, a very special somepony told me about you. Though he did not know your name, he knew that you would be the one to carry on his work protecting and improving Equestria.” Her eyes sparkled, just a touch. “He told me a filly would come to me one day, whose special talent was magic itself, and who would cause quite the ruckus in my school. That she would one day claim the Element of Magic for herself and master the power of the Magic of Friendship. And in so doing…” Celestia hesitated then, turning her head away.

Luna picked up, her voice calm. “In so doing, she would ascend as we did, to become Alicorns.” She waved her hoof at Celestia with a smile. “Just as Celly and I were once a young unicorn and earth pony who came to innately understand the magic of the Sun and Moon, and as Cadence was a pegasus who came to the complete understanding of the magic of Love.” She giggled faintly. “It seems, however, that things have changed.”

Twilight blinked and turned back to Celestia. “What do you mean, changed?” It felt odd asking these questions. “And just where in Hades are we, anyway? I’ve never read anything about a magical realm like this!” She stomped her hoof ineffectually into the cloud.

Celestia shook her head. “We do not have a name for this place. As far as I am aware, only us four have ever set hoof in it.” She faintly sighed. “As for what has changed…” She pointed at Cadence. “It begins, and ends, with her and Shining Armor.” Twilight felt a cold grip on her heart, and turned to stare at Cadence. What hadn’t she been told?

Cadence shook her head. “There were other prophecies that Auntie neglected to tell us.” She half glared at Celestia, then sighed. “Though now that I know a bit more about why, I can’t say I blame her.” Twilight was drawing a blank at first, and…

She smacked her forehead with her hoof. “Oh, I am such an idiot. Predestination Paradox.” Twilight groaned and sank to the ground, covering her head with her hooves. “Star Swirls’ laws of temporal travel. You can’t go back in time to tell somepony what’s going to happen in the future, because that event will automatically happen due to interference.” She smacked her head and then came to rigid attention. “But wait, why couldn’t…”

She turned to Celestia, who was grinning. “Because I wasn’t told exactly who the pony would be, or what they’d look like or act like. Only that such a pony would one day exist and follow a few basic guidelines.” She paused, and rubbed at her forehead. “The problem was, you began to go off the rails after your brother and Cadence’s relationship ended and you became closer to her. You were still following many of the steps on the path, but you were doing so at a rapidly accelerated rate.”

Luna piped up, walking over to tug Twilight to her hooves. “Which brings us to today. You see, I have tried to scry certain future events we thought were coming to pass and have found the future to be an utterly unreadable miasma.” She shook her head. “All of our presumptions about the future have been rendered moot from this point forward, and you are the cause as to why.”

Twilight blinked and nodded slowly. “You’re saying you don’t know exactly why I’ve come here now, as opposed to knowing why in the other series of events?” Celestia nodded cautiously, and Twilight rubbed at her chin. “That would presuppose that somepony actually changed the timeline at some point. But that’s supposed to be impossible.” And now she felt frustrated and cross and stomped her hoof again. “Argh! Why won’t the universe stop not making sense!”

Celestia laughed brightly and shook her head. “As much as it may personally worry me, Twilight, I feel…” She turned to the fog and took in a deep, slow breath before letting it out all at once. “Liberated. In truth, Twilight Sparkle, I now have absolutely no idea what the future will hold.” She turned in a clatter of hooves with a big smile. “And for once in my life, I am perfectly okay with that.”

Luna shook her head and smiled with tolerant amusement. “We do not know what mastery you have obtained Twilight. We know only that you have attained it, else the Elements of Harmony would not have brought you here. Perhaps it relates to Friendship and Love and is a magic of a kind we simply did not know could exist.” She gestured broadly. “Fortunately for all of us, we shall have a very long time to find out.”

Twilight pulled herself to her hooves and took a deep breath. “What happens next?” It was an odd thing to feel fear about, but she did anyway. Something was about to profoundly change in her life, something she hadn’t been prepared for in the least.

Cadence came over to her though and enfolded her in big, feathery soft wings. “Now…” she said, with a quiet smile. “We find out, together, what happens next.”

Cadence leaned down to kiss her, and Twilight saw a whirl of pink and deep violet magic enfold them both in a spiral of warmth and love as their lips met, and the world, and the future, changed forever.

Princess Celestia Solaris nodded silently to the trio of batpony Night Guards as she approached a particularly isolated staircase in Canterlot Castle. The still and silent guards of the night did not nod, nor did they acknowledge her presence as she passed them. The magical defenses here would have long ago warned them of an intruder, especially now that those defenses had been improved to catch a highly specific form of intruder. Still, given the nature of her guest, she supposed she could be forgiven for a touch of paranoia. After all, this guest had been the first creature in centuries to successfully breach the walls of Canterlot.

The rooms here were prison cells, strictly speaking, but they were not built as such. They had good beds and amenities, warm showers and baths, exercise equipment, and even natural lighting thanks to some ingenious mechanical contrivance. Celestia had always been a proponent of gentler stratagems when it came to dealing with the unruly or the perpetually criminal. A griffon ambassador had once called it ‘killing them with kindness’, a phrase which amused her while also neatly summing up her attitudes.

Attitudes which had not pleased her niece nor her sister, but now that her anger had cooled and the crisis had passed, she was not about to sway from the methods that had served her well for countless centuries. The hallway that contained the six discrete cells was empty of obvious guards, protected instead by magic and mechanical traps which would ensure not even the cleverest thief could escape these walls. And with no guards to tempt, even the most silver tongued villain could find no ally in their escape.

But this one… she had made no attempts to escape since the incident had come to an end. She had instead sequestered herself silently in her cell, speaking to nopony who entered unless they came to treat her of her many injuries. Even then, she spoke only as absolutely necessary,\ and fell to silence when her physicians retreated. Until today.

The message had came from the physicians themselves. A simple note in Equish, but in remarkably beautiful and flowing hornwriting. The creature that called itself Queen Chrysalis wished to speak with her, face to face. It wished to ask her some things and would be willing to tell her some things. It had been such a remarkable turn of events that Celestia had canceled all her other appointments and swept down to the holding cells immediately. Preparations for Luna and Shining Armor’s vows could wait a few moments, as could those for the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Deft steps carried Celestia across the hallway and to the door that currently occupied her attention. She channeled the ancient and powerful magics of the sun into her horn and sunk the slender appendage into the complex and arcane lock. Ancient metal tumblers rolled into place, and the thick enchanted steel of the door opened the barest crack. Celestia stepped back and swung the vaulted door open enough for her to pass through and dragged it shut behind her with an impressive thud of metal upon metal.

The room itself was in immaculate shape, having been kept quite neat and tidy by her hoof-picked staff of unicorn maids. The morning’s breakfast dishes were neatly stacked in place, and the sounds of gentle orchestral music filled the air. The subject of her visit today sat at the writing desk, manipulating a quill in much the same manner as a unicorn would across an expanse of paper. The language she wrote in was not quite Equish, but it bore a striking similarity to it nonetheless, and Celestia found its strange whorls and sweeps to be rather beautiful, despite their source.

The quill finished its journey and settled back to its place in the inkwell, and the black chitinous form of the changeling queen spun her chair to face her. Not for the first time since her arrival, Celestia felt a little chill go down her spine at the sight of those glowing emerald eyes. They bore a frightening resemblance to the eyes of Nightmare Moon, and it was at times difficult not to see the same tragedy which had produced her sister’s betrayal present in her gaze. Now more than ever, Celestia was sure that here lay the source of the answers she sought.

Chrysalis opened her mouth and licked with a serpentlike tongue across her lips before speaking. “It was supposed to be different this time,” she half whispered, her words strangled with pain and grief. “I changed everything. I kept my army away, so you would sense no threat to your city. I suborned those who would protect and defend you. I rid myself of that pestilent captain of the guard, so there would be no shield to keep me out. I removed the power of the Love Princess at its very source.” She swallowed, as though around a lump in her throat. “I seized the love of a far more potent kind. Everything was perfect.”

Her words strangled off into a sob, and she clutched her strange, hole-filled forelegs around her middle as she heaved for a few moments in tears and pain. Celestia took a step forward, and Chrysalis snarled at her. “NO! I do not need… I do not want your pity!” She spat out the last word and coughed heavily.

“It is not about pity when your life is endangered,” Celestia snapped but took a step back. After a few more moments, she frowned. “You have been planning this for fifteen years? No.” She paused, and her eyes narrowed. “Something else is going on here. What do you mean, it was supposed to be different this time?”

Chrysalis bared her fangs in a sort of grin, her eyes glittering. “I have done this before and was defeated by that miserable pink alicorn and her stupid husband! I had thought her and her filly friend, the foolish purple one to be the source of my ills.” She laughed, hard and humorlessly. “The more fool I, it seems, to have thought them neutralized. ”

Celestia barely licked at her lips, and felt as though the ground had gone out from under her. “You… wait.” She stopped and felt anger flush through her. “You were the one who caused them to split up! But how!? Changing the flow of time is impossible! Not even Star Swirl the Bearded could do such a thing!”

The changeling queen shoved herself back into the writing desk’s chair and glared at her balefully. “I stole a spell of time travel and thought I could use it to warn myself of my mistakes. But I befouled the spell with too much power and was flung too far back in time. I saw the young princess and her stud, and tried to make the best of the situation when the magic backlashed upon me,” she spat and turned her head away.

Celestia rubbed at her forehead, wishing it would stop hurting, before. “You… You miscast the spell, and it let you change one detail.” She swallowed softly, feeling a sudden rush of fear. “But when the magic tried to send you back to your present, that time no longer existed, and so it sent you someplace else.”

Chrysalis shook her head. “I was returned to my hive, where I had just begun to plan for my attack on your city. I found myself with all of my knowledge of what had gone before and plotted to use it to my best advantage. My finest spies reported the pink one had no mate and was now living in a peasant village.” She sneered. “I was certain my work had succeeded enough to give me a better chance at victory. I altered my plan to fix all the flaws of the previous one. And so… here we are.”

She fell silent then, wrapping her long forelegs around her middle and staring off into the void. For a long time, Celestia said nothing. All of the reasons for her upset plans were wrapped up into a neat little package. For everything this creature had done, for everything she’d made Celestia suffer through, she ought to be dealt with harshly, but…

Chrysalis muttered softly, her voice rough. “I have been such a fool. Thinking myself clever to have come this far unnoticed and presuming that you yourself would not have changed.” Her head sank against her chest and her grip on herself tightened. “Decide my fate and leave me to it, princess. I’ve no more energy for explanations.”

Princess Celestia bowed her head once, took a deep breath, and forced herself to stand up tall. If this creature had taught her anything, and Celestia was thinking she had just begun to learn, it was that there was a darkness in every last one of them. “I shall see you on Friday then. And every three days after that.” She turned to the door and felt her mouth turn up in a slight smile. “Tell me, do you take your tea in black or oolong?”

“What?” Chrysalis’ voice came from behind her, disbelieving and sneeringly dismissive. “Do not toy with me, princess,” she snarled, and from the sounds of things, tried to stand up and failed due to pain.

Celestia felt her smile broaden into a grin, not turning her head. “Black tea, then.” She walked to the door, her head high and her tail frisky. “I shall enjoy having somepony who is both intelligent and holds animosity toward me to have discussions with. Perhaps someday we shall find a way for you to atone for your crimes.” She placed her hoof on the door and turned her head toward the creature.

Chrysalis was staring at her in something approaching dumbstruck disbelief. “I am not toying with you, Chrysalis,” Celestia spoke, keeping her voice calm. “But I do not believe in killing when it is not necessary. Anypony can be saved from the darkness within them.” Her lips turned up, and she graced this changeling with a smile. “I should know. My sister and my student taught me that. And it is my hope that someday, I can teach you the same.”

Chrysalis slumped back against her desk, and Celestia shoved the cell door open and slipped through. She shut the door gently and felt a little giggle. Yes. They had taught her how to slay the darkness within herself. Now all she had to do was find a light to replace it.

She tilted her head and nodded once. The thought that had entered her mind would be an excellent place to start, even if it was not ultimately her goal. Still. She had a coronation to plan, and a wedding to attend, and both would offer opportunities to begin her own journey back to the light… and a chance to repay somepony who had helped her find her way there.

Cadence couldn’t help herself, she sighed and facehoofed. “You seriously never got around to actually proposing to her?” She injected as much astonishment and amusement into her tone as she could, carefully buttoning up Shining Armor’s suit coat with an almost motherly affection.

He winced away from that but grinned sheepishly. “I kept trying to come up with the words, but…” He shrugged, his cheeks a bright red. “Well, you know how I get when I really like somepony, and I can’t bring myself to say anything.”

Cadence smiled wryly and smacked him over the back of the head. “Boy, do I remember. At least you didn’t try driving a parade float into the bedroom before leaping on her and going at it like teenagers.” That got him to cover his face in embarrassment, and she grinned broadly. “Chin up, Shiny. She’s obviously nuts for you, even if I don’t really understand why.” She trailed off the last word, keeping it teasing and suggestive.

Shining Armor muttered something about treating her like a proper lady, and Cadence chose to ignore it. Then... “Thanks, Cadey,” he said, very quietly. “I’m sorry I was such a jerk back then. I shouldn’t… I should’ve known what was important.” He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Instead of focusing on all the bad stuff. Maybe if we’d tackled it together, we could have changed things.”

Cadence smiled and gently brushed his hoof off his shoulder, before kissing his cheek. “You’re a heck of a stallion, Shining Armor. But in the end, I think this all worked out for everypony.” She turned and flipped up an ear. “Almost time for the big show. Have you thought about what I asked you earlier?”

Shining grinned at her broadly. “I’d love to be your best stallion. But do I really need to wear a pink tuxedo?”

Princess Luna turned and smiled at her. She was radiant in her dress, even moreso this second time. “Rarity, you have truly outdone yourself,” Twilight said with no small amount of praise. Her good friend blushed prettily and tossed her mane coyly, and Twilight grinned at her. “We’re going to need to restrain Shiny when he sees her in this! Or else we might have a complete scandal in the middle of this wedding too!”

“HAH!” Luna boomed and beamed at them both, “Let them be scandalized! I intend to bring an end to this silliness regarding sexual norms once I am married to mine Knight. We shall remind our beloved citizens what it means to have a good time!” She stomped her hoof imperiously, and Twilight giggled madly. She could just imagine what kind of ‘good time’ Luna had in mind.

“Well, I cannot say I did it all myself, darlings.” Rarity’s eyes lit up like lanterns. “Fancy Pants was a magnificent help, as was Fleur, in getting all of the gowns mended and ready in time.” She clapped her hooves together happily. “Fancy has even suggested we go into business together! It will be like a dream come true, and all thanks to you, Princess Twilight.” And she bowed, most elegantly to her.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Can it with the bowing, Rarity. Or I’ll take away your titles until you do.” Rarity looked horrified… then gave her a wry smile when it became clear Twilight had been joking. She grinned and nodded to Luna. “Shall we go then?”

Luna returned her nod, and Rarity waved them off. “I need to get cleaned up here, dearies. I’ll join you outside in a moment.” Twilight smiled at her and slipped over to the door with Luna, ducking outside where….

“She’s all ready for you,” Twilight whispered, and Princess Celestia smiled slowly at her. Twilight reached out and took Celestia’s hoof and squeezed it firmly, keeping her voice low. “I’m not… I’m not rejecting you, Princess Celestia, I’m just-”

A golden hoof silenced her, and Celestia giggled faintly. “Twilight. We will have centuries, if not more, to explore the bond we share.” She leaned down and kissed Twilight on the cheek. It was a gesture enough to make her blush more than she ever had before. “But for tonight… There is another lonely heart in this castle that needs me as much as I need her.”

Celestia pushed open the door and strode through it. Luna was smiling broadly, a bare glimmer of tears in her eyes as she hugged Twilight very enthusiastically… and they both put their ears to the door. “Princess Celestia!” Rarity exclaimed, delightedly. “What can I do for- Mmmf!” Her words descended into a strangled moan… and followed into something a great deal more enthusiastic.

Luna grinned at her, and Twilight had to drag her away before the sounds got too loud.

The wedding was glorious and as fun as any state occasion could be. The rainboom in the middle of the night was a glorious sight to behold, and given how much liquor and food was being distributed, the after-party was bidding fair to write itself into the legends of Canterlot lore. The bride and groom had vanished almost immediately following the ceremony, as had Rainbow Dash. Nopony knew what the three of them might be up to, but nopony seemed inclined to ask. At least, not tonight.

Twilight though… Twilight found herself flying rather awkwardly up to a small cloudbank seeded by the Canterlot weather team after the Rainboom. Mostly for the many pegasus and batpony guests who had come to attend and wanted someplace quiet to chat. For Twilight, this cloudbank was an escape. A chance to get away from the noise for a moment and lay her head on the soft, fluffy clouds. No wonder Dashie had loved to sleep on these things. She needed to get one for her library.

But once thoughts of fluffy clouds dispersed, her thoughts went to the mare she loved, and the new life that now lay before her. Strange powers coursed through her veins, and some of them she could not help but feel a little afraid of. They were powers seated in her emotions and not her logic. They did not respond to the magical formulae she had spent her whole lifetime learning how to use, and she did not know what to do with them.

But worse still, she was now a Princess. Or at least, she would be in the very near future. The formal coronation had yet to take place, yet even now she wore the regalia of a full princess. Luna had provided the hoofboots and torque, modified to bear her cutie mark and not the moon. They were in silver and felt strangely light, as though enchanted…. which, on reflection, they probably were.

She was a princess. That meant princessy responsibilities. Titles. That meant she might have to move away from Ponyville… and any of a host of other problems that might come to roost in her otherwise normal and well ordered life. Admittedly, not normal by most Equestrian standards… but it’s normal to me. And as for Cadence? Celestia had been strongly hinting that Cadence would have responsibilities of her own in the future. Responsibilities that might carry her far away from Twilight…

And that terrified her. She had spent so very much of her life alongside her that now… the very thought that Cadence might have to go and live someplace else, especially if Twilight’s own duties carried her elsewhere was- “Stop that, Twilight, or you’re going to give everypony fits.” Cadence’s firm voice filled her ears, and her warm body wrapped tightly around hers as they lay together on the cloud.

Twilight nearly shoved herself away, but Cadence was holding on so firmly it would’ve taken a full on punch to dislodge her. “No. Stop,” Cadence said again, firmly. “Calm your emotions before they get the better of you.” Twilight gulped at the iron hard command in that voice and slowly forced herself to calm. It took a little while, but by the end of it Cadence was stroking her mane slowly. “Goodness, I never thought I’d have to teach somepony to use the same magic I do…” Cadence’s mutter was soft, but loving.

Twilight shook her head. “How do you manage to live with all of these…” She wanted to flail her forelegs, but all she did was gesticulate one of them broadly. “These pressuring emotions? I can’t seem to.. to DO Anything with them.” She whimpered a little and leaned into Cadence’s touch, desperate for that warm affection that awaited her. She found it easily, and strangely she could feel a blanket of calm settling over her.

“No one ever said love was easy, Twilight.” Cadence smiled faintly at her, then leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You need to relax.” She gently lifted Twilight’s chin and kissed her far more firmly on the mouth, pulling her passionately into her embrace for a few long moments before pulling away. “I’ve already told Princess Celestia right to her face that there is no force on this earth that will separate us. And if she has any intentions of trying, we’re going to fly away to live in Roam, and we’ll take the Elements of Harmony with us.”

Twilight stared for a moment but promptly threw herself into the hottest, firmest, deepest kiss she could possibly conceive. She wrapped her hindlegs around Cadence’s body and squeezed her tightly until she laughed helplessly. And a thought hit Twilight, clean out of the blue. “I want to have foals,” she whispered at Cadence, tucking her head under her chin. “Since we… um… didn’t succeed the first time, I thought…”

She was blushing. Cadence was blushing too, but she was also giggling. “I’d wondered, but…” She shook her head and laughed softly. “That’s a big commitment, Twilight. Are you sure?” Twilight just nodded instantly and nuzzled herself up closer under Cadence’s chin until she could nibble at her neck. Cadence giggled again. “Alright, alright… simmer down, purple smart.” Twilight groaned at the use of the nickname, and Cadence laughed. “We’ll sit down and figure that one out together. I promise.”

Twilight nodded again and turned her body carefully so she didn’t dislodge the warm cuddling or any contact with Cadence. “So… Um… are you going to teach me how to fly?” she asked softly, staring up into the glittering night sky and wondering what else the future might hold for them.

Cadence laughed. “You already know how to fly, my little princess alluring.” She kissed Twilight’s horn softly, and the sensation made her squirm in place. “But I suppose I can show you how to properly use those wings of yours.” Cadence’s hoof wrapped around hers, and the next moment they were plummeting out of the sky back toward the party, her wings and Cadence’s flared out in concert and sent them into a glide. Cadence’s smile over her shoulder was very wicked indeed as she spoke, her voice warm and dripping with promise.

“Lesson one, preening!”

Author's Notes:

Well, this one sure as heck ended up a LOT longer than I'd originally intended.

A brief author's notes to follow tomorrow with some thoughts and important info, but as of today, this story is complete.

I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you for reading. I hope all of you who joined us here in Lapisland for this tale will stick around, because while one story ends...

Another is soon to begin.

And I remain, as ever,
Humbly Yours,
Lapis-Lazuli