It’s amazing how quickly time can pass, especially when there’s something big going on. The next month flew by like a blur with all the interviews, letters, and preparations for the upcoming wedding. At first we were a little unsure of how things would turn out, especially since I had spent a week repairing the Crystal Empire with my newly acquired crystal manipulation powers. In the end, however, everything went just as planned, and Luna and I were married beneath a starlit sky. We had decided to make the wedding a public event in Ponyville, which ended up being a complete festival celebrating both our union and my saving of all of Equestria. Again.

I made sure not to get a swelled head, of course; I may be a famous hero, but the day was about Luna, too.

At the height of the evening, Luna and I were sitting at a table, watching the other guests glide across a dance floor that had been set up outside. I took a quick look around with a sneaky grin, making sure my new bride was distracted, and teleported to the DJ stand, where Vinyl Scratch was bobbing her head to the beat appreciatively.

“Hey, Allen,” she said happily when she noticed I was standing there, “how’ve you been?”
I shrugged. “Well, considering I just got married, I’ve never been better. Listen, you wouldn’t happen to still have the music from my MP3 player when I hooked it up last year?” I asked hopefully.
The DJ unicorn nodded. “Of course! You guys have some great tunes back on Earth, so I saved a copy of your playlist,” she replied.

I smiled and glanced over at Luna, who had just realized I was gone. “Mind if I take over for a little bit?”
Vinyl gestured to the console. “It’s all yours, pal,” she said as she stepped backward.
I set up the next few songs, making sure there was some time before my special track.

~-~-~-~-~

“No. I’ve done enough already: I went to the Crystal Empire with you, I risked my life-and died!- for you, and I let you borrow my crystal so you could bring Luna back to life. I will not subject myself to this kind of humiliation on your account!”

I groaned at Drayke’s response to my request. “Come on,” I said, telekinetically waving a piece of paper in his face, “it’ll be fun!”
Drayke crossed his arms. “I don’t sing,” he said firmly.

I rolled my eyes. “Come on, Drayke; if you want to prove to these ponies that you aren’t a villain anymore, you need to prove that you are willing to do some of the things they like to do,” I said persuadingly.
Drayke glared at me. “I said no. I will not sing. Besides, I suck at it anyways,” he said dismissively.
I smiled. “Just one verse, and you can sing it like a rap. Come on man, this is a wedding; at least have a little fun.”

Drayke glanced at the paper and stared at it for a few seconds before sighing and snatching it out of the air. “Fine, if only to shut you up,” he said submissively.
I grinned and started to run off. “Dance floor, ten minutes!” I called behind me as I dashed to finish my set up.

~-~-~-~-~

“Okay, are you ready, Twilight?” I whispered from the center of the dance floor, placing a hoof over my microphone as it hovered in front of me.
Twilight nodded. “It may have been a while since I last sang this, but I still remember the lyrics perfectly!” she said confidently.
I nodded and turned to Drayke. “Are you ready?” I asked uncertainly.

Drayke rolled his eyes. “Let’s just get this over with,” he sighed as he jammed his hands in his pockets.

I nodded and tapped the mic to get everyone’s attention. “Um, hello,” I started nervously, “could everyone look over here a moment?”
Every pair of eyes at the party turned to face me, and I gulped nervously. “Uh, before I begin, I wanted to thank you all for coming here tonight, and congratulating me and Luna on our successful marriage.”
The crowd applauded, and I smiled nervously as I continued. “On top of that, I just wanted to thank you all for welcoming me into your community so warmly since I first came here; a year ago, when I first arrived in Equestria, I was pretty nervous about how I would be received, and I’m very thankful you were all so kind. And, even though I’m an alicorn now, and I’m married to a princess, I don’t want you to treat me like royalty; just treat me like another-”

Drayke interrupted me with an obnoxious groan. “Oh, my God, can you just get on with it?” he complained.
I sighed. “Fine,” I muttered. “Hit it, Vinyl!” I cried.

The crowd fell silent as several melodic keyboard chords rang out through the speakers, signaling the start of the song. “This performance goes out to the very beautiful Princess Luna!” I shouted, holding a hoof in the lunar princess’s direction. She blushed as the crowd glanced at her with friendly smiles for a moment, and turned back to Twilight as she cleared her throat to sing.

“Love is in Bloom
A beautiful bride
A handsome groom
Two hearts becoming one
A bond that cannot be undone.”

The crowd started dancing around smoothly as the chorus picked up.

“Because love is in bloom
A beautiful bride, a handsome groom
I said, love is in bloom
Starting a life and making room for us.”

There was a short instrumental break, and Luna ran out on the dance floor.
“Allen, this is wonderful,” she said softly as I danced awkwardly beside her.
I smiled warmly. “Anything for you,” I said softly and kissed her on the cheek. “Hey, I’m next; wait here for me?” I asked hopefully.
Luna nodded, and I stepped aside, took a deep breath, and sang my verse.

“Love is in bloom
More than a feeling
faithful and true
A connection lasting forever
A force holding two hearts together.”

I heard a cheer coming from nearby, and turned to see Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all standing nearby, smiling at my performance. Twilight stepped forward and repeated the chorus, and I looked around impatiently.

“Where the hell is Drayke?” I asked myself aloud, scanning the crowd and hoping he hadn’t ducked out on his verse, when a loud whoop from above rang out from above the crowd. I turned around to see Drayke standing on top of one of the massive subwoofers by the DJ system, and he jumped off, landed with a roll, grabbed the microphone from my magical grasp, and made the crowd go wild.

“Lemme tell ya about love, lemme tell it just right.
Coming up from above, call it love at first sight.
Lights up a smile; fills you up with delight,
Gets a little too high when two ponies unite!
It's like riding a bike but without the pedal;
Evil-doers try to mess it up and meddle.
But you settle 'em down, give a little to share --
Before you know it baby there's love in the air!
Ponies care about the weight that accompanies their mate.
They salivate affection and they soon graduate
Towards the feeling of love, they don't bother to hate.
You better tell 'em how you feel now before it's too late!
Then you'll find yourself blank, down to reminisce
About how ya both met and then shared your first kiss.
Some people hiss at this and start huffing and puffing,
I tell 'em to stop derping out and I give 'em a muffin.
Did I stutter? Look, here's some conveyance:
You heart needs swing and a little bit of Cadence!
You need some cheer, spread it peer to peer;
Keep your lover near and they will wipe every tear!
No fear when you got a bride and groom.
No imminent doom or very intimate gloom.
You may think love is fake, well you're free to assume --
Let there never be hate because love is in bloom!”

I let out an impressed cheer, which made Drayke smile slightly as he joined in the wild dancing. I don’t know why, but it felt good seeing a grim asshole like him finally enjoying himself for once. Then again, had I not ended up where I was now, I probably would have been just like him when I grew up.

I really dodged a bullet on that one, huh?

I looked around, a sudden feeling of happiness swelling up in my chest as the bridge of the song started, and for some reason I felt as if someone was watching me from afar. I turned around and, like something out of the ending of Star Wars, saw my father leaning against a fence post, smiling proudly.

I stared for a few seconds, not knowing what to think, until I finally gave him a small smile and a slight nod, and I watched as he closed his eyes, bowed his head, and faded away.

“Allen? Are you okay?” I heard a voice ask from behind me. I looked over and saw Drayke giving me a slightly worried look. “You were staring out at nothing; I thought something was going on,” he explained.
I shook my head. “No,” I said happily, “Everything’s fine. In fact, things couldn’t be better. Hey, can I have my mic back?” I asked, gesturing to the object in Drayke’s hand.

He looked down and widened his eyes. “Oh! Yeah, go finish your song,” he said, tossing it into the air.
I nodded appreciatively and took a quick look around. “Hey, Drayke? I need to ask one more favor,” I said slowly.

Drayke sighed hopelessly. “I guess so.”
I motioned towards Cadence, who sat at a table with a sad expression on her face; I realized now that this may not have been the best song choice. “You see that alicorn over there?” I asked quietly, “I want you to go over there and ask her to dance.”
Drayke widened his eyes. “What? No way, man. I’ll respect you being with a horse, but I’m not going down that road,” he protested.

“Drayke. She just lost her husband.”

This made the man soften his expression. “Oh. Well, in that case… sure. But only because I’m such a naturally nice guy,” he said nonchalantly.
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Yeah, and I have hands. I’ll see you later,” I said as I ran out to the dance floor.

I stopped sharply halfway to the center, causing me to skid the rest of the way, and brought the mic to my face. “Let’s get this party started!” I shouted, resulting in another cheer, and Twilight and I finished the song together, singing the main chorus together once, and the rest of the crowd joined in on the second.

I smiled broadly as everyone cheered, and I whirled my head around, shooting a Bolt into the sky that exploded like a bright, white firework that could be seen for miles around.

~-~-~-~-~

“Now THAT was a great wedding!” I exclaimed. I sat on the balcony back at the castle, accompanied by Drayke, Twilight and her friends, Cadence, Luna, and Celestia.
Pinkie nodded. “I think that was the best party I’ve ever put together!” she said happily.

Celestia stood up. “Allen, I don’t think there is a single being in all of Equestria I would rather see my sister married to,” she said softly. “You are a shining example that all of humanity should proudly follow,” she said, with a stern, yet slightly teasing, glare at Drayke, causing him to squirm uncomfortably.

“Yeah… anyways,” Drayke said slowly as he got to his feet, “I think I deserve a little something for what I did for Allen. After all, I did die.”

I nodded. “I suppose you want me to charge your crystal?” I asked.

Drayke laughed. “Yes, but not for the reasons you think,” he said quietly. “Over the past month, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and tonight at the party, I finally decided: I want to go back to Earth,” he said with finality.
I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were done with Earth,” I reminded him.
He nodded. “I did, but I thought I might give it a second chance. You know, start fresh,” he explained.

I stood up and walked over to him. “Drayke Blackwood,” I said with a slight pang of sadness, “it won’t be the same without you.”
Drayke rolled his eyes. “Don’t get all mushy on me, kid,” he said humorously, “I hate goodbyes.”
I smiled. “Well, for what it’s worth,” I said as I raised a hoof, “it was fun having you around. I mean, when you weren’t trying to take over the world,” I added.

He bumped his fist against my outstretched hoof with a grin. “It was great being here,” he said proudly, “At least, when I wasn’t being killed and trapped in a crystal.”

Drayke held out his crystal, which I pressed my horn against and willed some of my energy into the gem.
“Whenever you’re ready,” I said quietly, and watched as Drayke walked over to the center of the balcony.
“I never thought I’d say this, but...” he said slowly, “friendship is magic.”

There was a bright flash of light, and just like that, Drayke Blackwood was gone.

“I hope he’s okay,” I heard Cadence say softly.
Luna rolled her eyes. “Cadence, really,” she said with a chuckle to her niece, “I don’t think he would be the kind of boy you’d be interested in.”
“What?” she exclaimed with a blush “I’m just worried is all. We won’t see him again, so I thought it was the right thing to say!”

Everyone laughed as the princess of love continued to make excuses, and I looked over the balcony, off into the horizon.

Until we meet again, I thought as my gaze scanned the endless stars.

~-~-~-~-~

“OOF!” A loud yell sounded from a New York City alleyway, waking a sleeping man in an adjacent apartment.
The man got out of his bed, put on his slippers and robe, and rushed to his open window.

“HEY! KEEP IT DOWN OUT THERE!” he shouted, but his tone changed when he saw a groaning man standing up in a pile of trash, holding his side and wincing in pain. “Hey, are you okay, pal?” he asked worriedly.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” the man in the alley said dismissively, and looked around. “Where am I?” he asked, looking up hopelessly at the man in the apartment.
The apartment man gave the stranger a confused look. “Uh, New York City,” he said slowly. “You sure you’re okay?” he added.

The man in the alley looked at his surroundings and smiled as he brushed a hand through his shoulder-length blonde hair. “Buddy, I don’t think I’ve ever been better.”