EPILOGUE: CELESTE DELANISE VALKYRIE

As soon as the slightest hint of my horn poked through the door, I could hear an obnoxious about of questions being screamed at my direction. Frankly, I was used to it in most other circumstances. But with all of the events from today, not to mention a great effort of magic being spent on my part to cleanse Umbra's hideous doings, I was admittedly far from my usual level of patient. But being a ruler of a nation, I've learned to put myself aside for the better of many.

With all of that predisposed, some of these questions being shouted out at me were blunt and crass, dry of any empathy.

"Your highness, what happened that made the captain unable to squash the threat on Friday night?"

"Why did the captain employ a sex slave in his work?"

"Were you aware of his presence in Canterrot that evening when the mass exhumation took place?"

"Your highness, what of the dastardly terrorist who is responsible for this week's events, what was his dealings with the captain?"

"Princess, with the horrendous revelations of this past week and the failures of the captain, will there be a change in order of the guard?"

"Do you feel Captain Nondis should be terminated?"

When I stepped to the throne, I sat myself and looked to Solemn for a call for silence. "HEAR YE! HEAR YE! THE HIGH PRINCESS OF EQUESTRIA SHALL NOW SPEAK!"

It took a few calls, but the rowdy throng of reporters had come to a whisper. The flashing photography stalled for a moment as I was finally given the opportunity to speak without interruption.

"Citizens of Equestria, a lot has happened." I said, looking to all of the ponies in the room. "I am sure that many of you have either heard or came into contact with some of the circumstances that has occurred on this week. But I shall now confirm on some matters that have gripped the attention of you all. And to start, I shall address the elephant in the room. Firstly, the matter of the missing bodies in the Canterlot Cemetery that have been recently recovered."

Immediately, questions began to sprout out. Solemn had to call out for yet another request of silence. "PLEASE SAVE ALL QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEWING PORTION! HER HIGHNESS THANKS YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION!"

I glanced to Solemn with a nod of appreciation. "The bodies that have all been recovered have been mandated to cremation, as to avoid the dastardly insurrectionist Umbra Sanctus from utilizing them further. I can assure you with all of my being that this matter will be addressed with upmost care and with the sensitivity deserving of those who's families are burdened with the knowledge that their loved ones have been disrupted throughout the course of their eternal repose. Furthermore, the deceased have been identified by means of sanctioned records from every medical facility, mortuary, and coroner in the city. All bodies recovered were confirmed to be Canterlot residents, and they were given a proper sendoff. However, I have also mandated that due to the condition of the bodies that were recovered were to not be identified by family members, as the faces and images will be too haunting for many to mentally accept. For that, you have my sincerest apologies."

A speckling of questions began to spark up, but Solemn once more placed her hoof down. "SILENCE!"

I carried on. "Onto our second matter. Pertaining to the issue of the Captain of the Royal Guard and his acquisition of the elements of harmony, we have confirmed that the the elements have been moved to a safe and undisclosed location. The humans are not aware of the location nor do they have access to it. However, the elements themselves removed themselves from their place of holding and reassigned themselves to a corresponding human that closely matched their requirements. This issue has been confirmed with the humans who live especially far away from the portals themselves. As for the reason they were selected, the necro-terrorist Umbra Sanctus has also threatened dominion of their world. And by threatening their world with powers and abilities that humans are not yet ready in full to combat, they will be overtaken and their attention turned to the world of Equestria. Fortunately, the portals were broken by one of the humans before the necro-terrorist in question could infiltrate. The humans will be stuck here for some time until the portals have been repaired and re-coordinated. Our estimated time of repair will be north of a month."

A few more questions started to seed from the back row in murmurs. "HER MAJESTY IS STILL SPEAKING! REMAIN SILENT OR YOU WILL BE REMOVED!"

I went on to establish yet another point. "And finally, we shall continue to invest our attention on the network of creatures who worked either in close association or loose acquaintanceship with the necro-terrorist Umbra Sanctus. Equestria will not tolerate any and all participants, this includes members of city council, municipal board leaders, politicians and pundits who accept bribes from any organizations affiliated with this figure, and all operatives who have had connections with these figures. There will be a deep and thorough cleaning of our government for those deemed compliant or permissive to these actions. Purge work has already begun at the conclusion of our defense operations here on the castle grounds."

The press were completely quiet then.... I wonder why.

"Before I take any questions, there is something I must also speak to those who have resorted to hiding from the offset of these matters, and I speak to you directly. This is highly unacceptable. Equestria will not only remember this, but it will learn a precedent on matters such as these from here forth. Your names will be exposed to the public, your legacies will be shamed, your assets will be frozen, as all politicians are undergoing an emergency asset stasis for royal audit. But those audits are not exclusive to legislators, as all city workers, places of worship, medical facilities, and post-mortem care centers shall be audited and inspected in immaculate detail. Those found to be engaged in such activities will have their licenses to operate permanently revoked. To all whom it may concern, all of these investigations will carry a felonious indictment with mountains of evidence and eye-witness accounts. As such, it will be mandatory that their faces and names are to be released to the public for record. I am sure some families will be broken by the end of this process, especially those who are unaware of their family members engaging in these activities. It is a risk, but that is a necessary sacrifice to ensure that this instance never happens again. All who are responsible will be apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. There will be no plea deals offered. There will be no short-term sentences. And there will be executions that I will address and/or attend personally."

This was probably the first time I've actually had to place my hoof down in such a manner in over a few centuries.

I nodded to Solemn, who gave the green light to the reporters. "HER MAJESTY WILL NOW TAKE QUESTIONS!"

Hooves quietly rose into the air, an overwhelming contrast to the noisy affair from earlier. I selected a hoof at random to give my my first question. "Your highness, there will be some ponies who hear this and think that this is an overreach of power. What will you say to them?

"I understand that they may think it is a drastic overreach, but matters such as these require a firm hoof to come down. I apologize for my methods appearing tyrannical, but it is for the good of Equestria's future that this changes now. The freezing of assets are in place to limit any and all flight risks looking to possibly leave the country. This is also why I have designated this conference to be broadcast on all wavelengths, so that others in both distant and neighboring cities are given advance to halt all transactions of those who show their accounts or assets mainly accumulated in the city of Canterlot, their primary proof of address being in Canterlot, and finally their business being located in Canterlot. Anything associated with Canterlot and the ponies therein, we will pursue and audit with extreme prejudice."

I picked out yet another hoof, a mare spoke out. "You say that the names of those responsible will possibly be exposed, are there any such names you can give us now, or will you be announcing them as the time comes?"

"I never said they would possibly be exposed, that's too broad of a stroke of my intention. I said that they will be, no chance of omission whatsoever. Ponies such as Senator Damper Trot, who was closely involved with the necro-terrorist Umbra Sanctus, are currently in holding. There is sufficient evidence depicting his involvement with Umbra's underground arena, who's purpose was just as mixed as any other, but also held the task to produce bodies for him to use. In hosting many affairs that were 'battles to the death' he would increase his body count using those gladiators to his purpose. There is also evidence of several animal bodies being used and stored. There are even some bodies of those that are considered as 'escorts' for many wayfaring officials. Damper Trot is one, High Tower, Proud Patriot, All Talk, and Just Cause are more senators and city council members who are directly involved."

Murmurs and photographs sounded out throughout the room as the others who had little to say simply raised their hooves to take a question. "Your highness, if this problem is truly as extensive as you claim it to be, then how much of the parliament do you think will be left remaining at the end of this purge?"

"I realistically see that there will be seventy-five percent remaining. However, given that there are over three hundred members in the body of parliament, there will be more than eighty who will have their names called by the end of the week."

More murmurs came around as I answered another question. "Your highness, there are some who claim this to be a partisan effort to quell the voices on one side of the aisle, especially with the names you've called. Is there a trend taking place or is there some sort of politics taking shape as well?"

"I do not believe that there is partisan politics involved in this matter. There are others on the opposing side of the aisle who are just as culpable. I will repeat that this is not a partisan effort of vote trimming, this is an effort to purify our systems of those who condone these behaviors. There will be no names withheld, despite what side of the aisle they sit on. However, our preliminary conclusions have trended heavier towards one side because the ideals Umbra himself upheld are similarly stringent to those of common political lean. We should yield more results as more names are brought in."

Another hoof raised, another question asked. "What is the status of the necro-terrorist?"

"He is detained in crystal at an undisclosed location." I answered before taking another question.

"Can you tell us more of his operations?"

"I will diverge more information as it becomes more readily available." I replied as I picked out another hoof raised.

"What of the captain's status? Will he remain in his position?"

At last, we landed into the toxic swamp of questions regarding Nondis' employment. I figured I would step into this trap eventually. "The captain is recovering from this assignment as many are recovering from this week's events." I gracefully deflected the issue, focusing more on the first question she asked by indirectly giving her the answer she wasn't expecting.

However, there was an older stallion who appeared more set on trying to find an angle to attack from. "Some consider the captain's absence on Friday night as a primary contribution to today's events. Is there any good reason why the captain was neglectful─"

Remember when I said that my patience was already running low, this was where I found my boiling point. "The captain was abducted by the creature of Umbra's creation. He suffered many broken bones, a punctured lung, internal bleeding, and a grievous wound that nearly resulted in total decapitation. The fact that he still elected to fight after such injuries gains my utmost respect. Therefore I will not accept any terms of him being held responsible for the actions of others. So you can pose that question in your mind, but not in my throne room, not in my presence, not in any part of my kingdom. So please correct your statement before I have you escorted out of this press conference."

With a uncomfortable smile and nod, he withdrew himself from questioning for the remainder of the evening. "I'm sorry, your highness."

I immediately took the next hoof I saw, hoping that my response to him served as a warning to the others. "Princess, what of the other humans? How do you think they will fare here in Equestria for a month?"

"They will be just as well-cared-for as our residential human. I can assure that their stay will be much less eventful than this past weekend."

I picked a hoof from the back. "Your highness, late city council member Alabaster Charm's name has been reported on this registry. Do you intend to go after his sister?"

While I am aware of their initial involvement, I had no intention for punishing her for assisting us. Her life and loss of family has been punishing enough. "Both he and his sister were instrumental in bringing Umbra down. They not only coordinated the effort to expose his plans, but also fought alongside us to bring him to justice. While Alabaster's involvement was initially close, he used his position to expose the inner dealings of Umbra and his cronies. So it may be that his name is on the list, his name is only on there because that's what the records show. His name is not one to be shamed, but honored. That grace is also bestowed upon his sister."

I selected a hoof in the middle of the crowd. "Your highness, with the end of this conflict, do we officially recognize the humans as element bearers?"

"Yes. They are indeed bearers, but only this once for the time being. As I said earlier, their world was being threatened as much as ours was. And it only made sense that they were here to neutralize that threat. There are no magical beings in their world, so no one there would understand what was happening. It was necessary for them to end this conflict before it had crossed over."

I picked out a young mare in the crowd. "I know this is probably an irrelevant question in the sea of relevant questions. But in regards to the late senator Somber Spiral, has it been confirmed officially that it was the necro-terrorist who committed the crime?"

"Your question is not only relevant, but also applicable to this case. Umbra himself committed the murders as a message to Somber Spiral's eldest daughter, who worked alongside us as well. The youngest victim is currently being cared for by that same sibling, the one you saw prior to me walking up here."

I picked out a young stallion towards the right. "Your highness, what was the motive of the necro-terrorist, do you know?"

I looked down and gave myself a sigh, expecting some awkward silence or even some criticism to come up as a result. "...Five hundred years ago, I prosecuted his family for the death of Prince Fair Charity. At the time, there was a massive political upheaval between the nobility and aristocratic powers. As such, the citizens were angry for the death of the prince that they said represented their interests. I directly ordered the family of the condemned to be executed.... Umbra was one of that family."

As I predicted, everyone was quiet and no one said a word. A lot of the ponies were essentially stunned that I had even been involved.

I looked back to the room where Nondis watched through the crack of the door, he gave me a quiet nod of approval and I continued onward. "This is why I do not have the captain answer questions without my express consent. This situation was not his responsibility in any way, but wholly mine. So if you have any concerns or gripes, it is only right for you to criticize me in a method that you deem just. This is all my fault, I have brought this upon you, I myself have committed the greatest fault to Equestria.... The only thing the captain is responsible for is cleaning up my mess." I briefly removed my crown and bowed my head in apology. "There is no succinct way to say how sorry I am. There are no words I can offer to those families who had to watch as their post-mortem loved ones were abused in such a hideous manner. My only offering is that I will allow for my name to be slandered and destroyed, but it will not change what has happened. I have failed you all, and that is my responsibility alone to bear."

"Your highness..." A voice called out from an unexpected source. I turned to my side, seeing Solemn openly make a comment in the face of the many reporters. "I'm asking this on behalf of the guard. Wouldn't it be fair to say that regardless of his motives, his actions are still more deplorable than the cause of his vengeance? He didn't just break a few laws, he played with life and death, consider how many more bodies he could've toyed with from then up till now. It's unfortunate that you were a cause to his actions, but it's an even greater crime to ignore the weight of his actions and placing them solely on yourself. You didn't tell him to play with the bodies of deceased Equestrians, he did that on his own." The reporters quietly looked to one another and began to jot down what Solemn had said in response to me. "You said yourself that you will not accept any terms of the captain being held responsible for the actions of others. It would not be fair to hold you to that same standard, being that the questions asked are focused on what happened in the current year, much less the week, as opposed to some lost drama of half a millennium back."

"I am only adding context to the purpose of his motives. His creation was indeed due to the role I played. I say that my actions should have as much weight as his." I insisted.

Solemn once more challenged me. "Your highness, how many of us live past one-hundred?"

While it seemed like a mundane question to pop out during a press conference, I could see the context of the argument that she was trying to make. "I under where you're coming from."

Solemn finally brought her input to a conclusion. "Princess, ponies will write of his motives, but you're not responsible for his decisions. Most of us would probably get mad and rage about it, grow old with it, die with it, and our bones turn to dust. But we wouldn't just transcend time and keep ourselves alive for longer than we should for the sake of some so-called justice."

A young mare in the front row stood out and spoke. "In the grand view, your highness, your role is present, but minimal to his actions. He's still a terrorist who played with the bodies of the dead. Are we really to hold you to that same charge when there's no evidence to back it?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes at both Solemn and the reporter. "I can't get a single critical hit-piece to come out of you lot, can I?" So far, there were very few responses, but a lot of hooves raised. "So I take it that there are other questions, you next." I selected at random.

A bright-spirited stallion brought forth his question. "Your highness, after this has cleaned up, will there be a celebration of the humans who helped save Equestria?"

Finally, a question I wouldn't mind answering with a clear mind. "I would request a day to mark it, but we are focused on current investigations. Also they are just as invested in making this investigation as solid as possible."

As I was ready to take on more questions, a young guard walked up to Solemn and whispered something in her ear. When she confirmed the message for herself, she passed the information on to me discreetly. "Your highness, there is a small uprising in the Corrotto District, seems to be some stragglers from the recent insurrection trying to rebuild their forces using some of the locals."

That was not exactly terrible news compared to what all we faced, but I had peace to maintain in the city. My efforts to answer questions would have to come later.

"I am so sorry, but there are matters that require my attention. I must depart. Thank you for your time."

It was only a short moment before our forces had completely enclosed on the Corrotto District yet again. I quietly entered one of the alleyways leading to the town square, where a number of citizens appeared to dedicate some of their young sons and nephews to fight alongside the remaining guild members who escaped capture. But as one could predict, not all of the young colts were volunteering of their own choice.

Some were forced. "Let us go!" An adolescent cried out as he watched a guild member frantically arming his younger brother with a spear stolen from the armory.

"You live here too, don't you!? So shut up and do your part!" Shouted a cruel stallion, arming the young adolescent.

"Our curtain has fallen, but that doesn't mean that we fall as easily!" A griffon called out, almost as to rally the small crowd of onlookers.

Pacing back and forth between the young 'recruits' and the onlookers was a pegasus mare with bat wings. She called out passionately to the onlooking residents. "The Doc's in trouble! And while we sit here and do nothing, I can point out just how much he's done for all of us! Everything around you, our way of life, our freedoms, our liberties, our rights, all of that he protected is at risk of being taken away along with him!"

The crowd cheered her words, all while the young volunteers were crying their eyes out. The same stallion from earlier ran around to the source of the loudest source of sadness. "Chin up, warriors don't get scared and cry!"

"KEEP THOSE CHINS UP!" The griffon cosigned loudly.

Once more, the stallion picked on a younger boy, a colt who couldn't stop rubbing his eyes of the tears he cried. He was terrified. "You, stop your bitching! Do you wanna lose your home!?" The young one shook his head tearfully. "Then stop crying and pay the fuck attention!"

The mare cycled her attention to the crowd. "Before you stands the future of our home, the greater generation who will defend you alongside us! Their sacrifices won't be for nothing, they will be for the conservation of our way of life!" Then she brought it back to the young colts. "I know you may be scared right now, but it's just the sky! What's a little rain going to do to stop us? We've faced off against worse! We fought off worse! And we can hold the line here! All you have to do is be brave and follow what we say! And we'll make it out of this!"

A changeling ran from one of the ran-down shacks. "They're gonna try to execute the Doc!" They cried out.

The mare loudly called out to the others, trying to keep them motivated. "We know what they can and cannot do! The Doc won't go down that easy, and neither will we!"

As I began to quietly detest the figures trying to rally together a bunch of very young colts in an effort to possibly get hurt and die for their cause, one of my guards approached me to give me an update. "Your highness, we're in position."

"Give the signal to advance." I ordered quietly.

As the guard signaled to the others to begin closing into the square, I myself stepped out of the shadows and into the pouring rain. "That stupid princess will rue the day she ever came across us! We will spill the blood of countless ponies if it means that we protect ourselves and our way of life!"

"As would I!" I declared loudly.

The ponies around the gathered group began to scatter and flee as soon as they saw me approaching. But their efforts were short-lived once they discovered that there were guards flooding in from every direction, pointing their spears ahead to keep everyone enclosed. Pegasi units from above took the newfound liberty to use their airborne advantage to further suppress from every angle and altitude.

"Take positions!" The batpony mare barked out. "Hold the line!

But before her forces could move, they were met with spears angled towards their necks. I gave them one final warning to surrender before this would become unsightly. "Stand. Down."

"Stop!" A colt's cry came to my ears. I slowly turned my head to see the colt standing in place, trembling with the oversized weapon in his hooves, a spear far too large and heavy for him to use correctly. He had to appear no older than ten. "Stop it, I mean it!" He was still crying, poor thing was terrified and just reacted in the manner he was taught to.

"Who has poisoned you, little one?" I asked the young boy.

"For home!" He ran forward, trying to guide the spear towards me. But with his poor training, as though he wasn't really trained at all, he let the spear guide him where he would strike. I let him draw closer until I could safely parry the spear with my wing and grab a hold of the young colt. I held to him, watching as he squirmed to break free. "Hey, let me go!"

I looked to him, ashamed for having watched him try to fight himself away from me, but also with sadness for the young one feeling like this should be his response. "So much conviction, in a mind so young."

"Help me, the evil princess got me!" He called out to the others, who stood silent and watched in fear.

"I suppose I have been evil to some." I replied back to the young colt, gently petting his head. "But you are much too young for me to antagonize. You're still a baby in my sight."

"Let me go!" He cried out once more.

I tried to smile at the young colt, at least trying to appear nice to him. "I'll let you go, but only if you let me give you a lesson first. I'm going to let you try again, but I'm going to show you how to use a weapon like that. Okay?" Surprised that I was actually willing to show him how to use his spear, he nodded and I placed him back to the ground slowly. I took a few steps away, turning my back to him and even showing how much I did not wish to be perceived to be a threat to him. I slid the spear beside him and started giving him instructions. "Now don't run for me just yet, but I want you to pick up that spear and hold it for a moment."

"See, she's so evil that she's willing to mock a child!" The batpony mare screamed out to the crowd, running my patience even thinner.

"SILENCE!" I shouted to her. "You would have this child die for your ideals!? He barely knows life, much less taking one!" Honestly, I might have underrepresented the truth when I said that my patience was worn thin. I had completely lost all will to negotiate with a mare like her. So I tossed the spear from the young colt to the mare. "You, come at me, this instant!" I said, summoning my halberd.

The mare smirked as she kicked the weapon away. "Gladly!" She screamed as she hopped into the air, looking to use aerial attacks of her own. She descended with blades set in the webbing of her wings. I remained calm as I let my horn glow, and I politely bent her wings out of place, breaking them. She fell to the ground, tumbling and howling out in pain. "AAHHHHH! My wings!"

"You shame yourself." I dismissively spoke to the mare before reallocating my attention to where I wanted it most, the young colts who were unwillingly volunteered. "All of you who are fourteen and below, please step forward." My halberd dropped into the ground, carving out a firm line in the ground, cleaving rock and gravel alike. After having watched the weapon perform it's dangerous work, many wished not to approach. "NOW!" I hollered, resorting to fear to coerce them. All of whom were of that age group quickly made their way over. "Don't stop until you've reached this line I've drawn!"

The mare called out once more. "See? It's just as the Doc said! She's a cruel murderer!"

"I don't have time for ancient truths." I answered to her before looking to the young collection of crying and scared colts. "All of you who stepped up, I want you to walk in a single file to that alleyway and look only ahead. Do not look back, do not come back for anything or anyone." I sternly warned. "I will not have you suffer on the same account of these fools."

I nodded to two guards to come over and escort the young troupe from out of the square. "This way!" Another guard ordered, pointing out to an open alley. "Keep moving!" They called out once more as a few slowed to try and glance back at us. I signaled for another two guards to block their way back in.

I waited for a minute or two, looking up to a pegasus in the sky. "Have they cleared?"

"Yes, your majesty." A young stallion confirmed.

I grabbed my halberd and marched quickly to the batpony mare who antagonized me for the last time. "So benevolent of you, to march them off to meet their demise."

I quickly swiped my halberd at the mare's neck, letting her head roll in the street. I lifted my weapon to clear the headless body. I walked towards the mare's head, who blinked incessantly from the shock. I spoke to her as she was still conscious. "I marched them away so that they won't have to see you meet yours." From there, I walked away, leaving her to come to her end in the coming seconds. I pointed to the line I had drawn and quickly issued for the stallion who antagonized the young colts. "Bring me the next one... him."

Immediately, he went into pleading and begging for his life. I watched with disgust as he was lead to me. "Please, I don't want to die! I don't want to die like that! Please!" He begged as he was sat before me. "Wait... Wai─"

His head rolled as quickly as the mare before him. I offered my final words to him from a distance. "You've made your bed." As I called for another one, I noticed that there was another waiting quietly, also crying silently as he watched the executions taking place. But he seemed out of place with the others, he appeared far younger than the rest. I placed my halberd against his neck, urging him to answer me quickly. "You, you're young. How old are you?"

"Sixteen, your highness." He expressed fearfully. While I had no wish to take his life, I would at least be willing to show him the consequence of his actions. In his instance, he's probably seen enough.

But there was something else about him that appeared similar to one of the other colts I watched get evacuated. "Do you have a brother?"

"Two, ma'am." He confirmed.

"What's their names?"

He was nervous at first, but he answered me in spite of the fear that consumed him. "...Crème de la Crème, Crème Fraîche."

I recognized the first name he threw out, and informed him of it. "I see, your brother was an Acolyte to Umbra. He assisted us in bringing his downfall. In return, I promised your brother a better life for you and your sibling." I looked back to the two heads, now devoid of life and back to him. "Do you still want to die here?"

"No ma'am." He whimpered softly.

"Very good." I said to him before removing the halberd from his neck. "You're a very respectful young stallion, I would not feel any good in my heart to know that I would have you end here. Many centuries ago, that would have not been the case. Back then, you would be joining them." I pointed my halberd to the heads. "You are young, I don't want that reality for you." I then addressed the other adolescents in the ranks. "Those of you who are twenty on down, I wanted you to stay because I needed you to see the reality of your choices up close and personal. I'm sure some of you will be willing to stand pat and live as bravely as they did, but you will also die as quickly and foolishly as they did. So if you wish to stand for what you believe in, I recommend that you'd wait your turn. As for those who wish not to be as they are, please leave this place, please seek a better life. I wish not to have more blood on my hooves from lives so young. Don't be them."

Immediately, as I lowered my halberd, I pointed to the direction of the alley where the others were escorted, the remaining gathering of young 'volunteers' filed themselves in line to be guided away. One of the guards issued the orders to the others. "Take them to where they took the others."

"Sir!" They complied.

As the young stallions and colts departed, I looked to the changeling pointed his way to the line. "Next."

2 Years Later...

After those arduous and taxing events took place, I finally had my peace of mind to be able to quietly conduct a transfer of power. But all of those attempts didn't come without some notable interruptions. First there was Chrysalis having her attempt to stealthily usurp the throne of Equestria by removing all successors to the throne. That failed basically off of the principle that she had completely forgot to take into consideration Twilight's student. And even if that failed, she failed to also abduct Blueblood, who would've been made King if our disappearances had been lengthy enough. Then there was the return of Stygian the Dark, which was also foiled by the return of my once-teacher Starswirl the Bearded. And then there was the short-lived takeover by the Storm King, again short-lived. Then there was the ploy to remove all magic from Equestria, coordinated by none other than a filly named Cozy Glow. Then came a surprise visit from King Sombra... the bad one. While he destroyed the physical elements, they grew to merely become symbols, as their powers manifested in other ways. And finally, there was the recent takeover attempt that resulted in half of the castle being destroyed and the return of the Wendigos. That was all thankfully staved off by every element bearing group Equestria had at it's disposal.

Every group... save one.

A month later, the castle was rebuilt, the city was back to the usual swing of things, the throne room was remodeled a second time, and new windows were put up to signify the change of power. And at last, all proceeds were completed for a full and thorough transfer of all powers from both Luna and I, to my former student, Twilight Sparkle.

The moment of her actual coronation didn't go as she had planned it, but the result was all the same. Luna and I melded our crowns together to give her the splitting image of the power she deserved. And as the event went along, moments of collective growth became bittersweet, a coming of age if you will. With her new position, she would have to leave Ponyville and rule from the high seat of Canterlot. But those moments weren't all too bittersweet, in fact they gave her a gift to remember them by.

A book containing the memories they shared, playing out in motion as though they were videos to be watched.

As the memories replayed on each page, she embraced her Ponyville friends. "I love it. Thank you so much. But I don't want to only look back. Obviously the coronation wasn't perfect, but that doesn't matter. It's our relationships that really count, and we have to maintain them."

Rarity brought up a reasonable point. "But now that we'll be living in different places, I'm not exactly sure how."

Twilight was eager to come up with a solution. "I am. I suggest we meet once a moon. In fact, my first royal decree as ruler of Equestria is to establish this Council of Friendship."

As I had entered into the picture to say my goodbyes, I complemented her on her decision. "And what a wonderful decree it is."

Luna cosigned on my praise. "We always knew that whatever adversity you faced, you and your friends would find your way through it together."

As Twilight began to approach us, I continued to speak, letting her know what we were setting out to do. "We know Equestria is in the perfect hooves with you and your friends looking out for it. And while we'll always be here if you need us, it's time for us to be on our way."

"You're leaving?" She asked.

"We hope you'll come and visit us in Silver Shoals." Luna invited happily.

"But now it's time for you to rule on your own. You're all more than capable." I concluded, absolutely brimming with pride.

"Thank you, for everything." She replied before jumping into me with a love-filled embrace, much akin to being the daughter I never had.

We all surrounded the high princess, embracing her just as warmly. After some tear shedding on my own part, I looked back to the young Twilight Sparkle, waved my goodbye, and both my sister and I flew off into the suspended twilight. But before we could completely leave the city, we saw a human posted up on a motorcycle, ready and waiting for us to give him the all clear.

Both Luna and I flew down to him, with her asking him. "Are you ready?"

He said with a smirk. "Ain't got no other choice but to be."

Luna appeared happy of his decision, but she questioned him of it once more. "You do realize that you could be captain for a little longer than two years."

The man shrugged. "Sometimes when there's a change in power, you just need to move out the way and let it happen."

As he was about to start his engine, a cry came from within the main checkpoint. "Princess!" We all looked over to see a mare galloping out in a set of purple and gold armor.

As she quickly approached us, I shook my head at her. "Solemn Oath, you don't need to call me that anymore. I keep telling you that."

"But you're still you! I can't just erase twenty years of calling you one thing." She insisted.

Nondis walked over to me, holding me close to him. "Don't even trip. She still calls me captain."

"But you are the captain." She replied.

"No, you are." He pointed out. "I thought we had this whole thing sorted out last week."

Solemn looked uncertain of her new position coming at the cost of the human's brief stint in the guard. "Do you really have to retire? It's only been two years and some change, almost three. You can go for much longer and you could be way higher!"

Nondis leaned down to kiss me on my forehead, making me giggle and smile. "Sorry, a promise is a promise. I told Cella I'd be done when she retires from her position, and here I am. I just happened to transfer everything over to you after all of this crazy ass-mess came about with Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy."

"You're talking as if you were involved!" She replied, pointing out his limited interaction with the villains.

"I was involved in the evacuation efforts, remember? I'm sure you know why." He argued as he glanced down to me.

"Yeah I know, she wouldn't let you go against another Class-X threat without your friends." Solemn answered correctly.

The human nodded his head. "Yeah. It's kinda hard to whip out the phone and tell Mel and Rickey to drop their kid off at daycare and help me come save the world. Stanton's a pro-athlete on a rookie contract, he ain't budging. Alex ain't leaving Vanessa and Bree all by themselves, not that Vanessa would even let him at this point. Plus he has another one on the way, nah. And Cliff is living his best life over in Ponyville City with Sunset. I ain't even bout to touch that."

The newly bestowed captain of the royal guard sighed as she looked up to the both of us. "So, what's next for you, captain?"

He knew she had said it to intentionally annoy him, but he didn't let it bother him too much. "She's moving to Silver Shoals, I just pray I have enough gas to make it there."

"You have enough. Stop playing around like you can't make a trek two-hundred miles west." I said back to him.

Solemn then made fun of the human. "Off to live with two former princesses, oh the carnage."

"Pray for me, will you?" He whispered in a low voice.

I tapped him in his side as Luna looked to the suspended twilight of the sky. "I think it's about our time."

But before Nondis could walk back to his motorcycle, another voice called out from the top of the battlements. "HEEEY!" With a sudden pop of magic, the yellow unicorn mare appeared before us, standing beside her armored special somepony. "What's the big deal, you don't say anything!?"

"Lemon Hearts, what's good?" Nondis asked the mare.

She scoffed and glared him down. "You can't just leave without saying goodbye to me, you know!"

The man laughed for a moment. "Yeah, I sure am gonna miss those cups of coffee you made me."

We all giggled at the joke he made. "Really, that's all you have to remember me by?"

"Nah, I'm just yanking your tail." He answered. "We'll be back to visit on occasion."

She hugged the tall man as best as she could. "You let me know. I want to make you two a nice dinner."

And then yet another face popped in for a final comment. "I don't suppose you ladies mind an old face popping in one last time."

Both Luna and I perked up as we saw our old mentor walking up. "Oh, Starswirl!" I said, giving the wise stallion a final embrace before heading out.

He looked to my boyfriend and appeared as a stern father. "As for you, Nondis, I believe you know what I'm going to tell you."

"Take good care of her. I know, sir." He replied respectfully.

"And also─"

"Luna's an avid prankster who really likes to piss her sister off. I found that out years ago." He completed.

Already knowing the warnings he came to offer, the wise wizard gave him a sagely nod. "Ah, very good then."

Luna and I offered our continued appreciation. Nondis especially took the time to shake his hoof. "Thank you for all you've taught us, sir."

"To retire in your prime, I'd call it a tragedy if it weren't a promise made." Starswirl said with a sigh, almost as though he wanted to see what the human could do at his best potential.

"That's life." Nondis concluded as he looked to me. "Well I made my rounds, you've made yours. Let's mosey."

And yet again, another voice calls out to interrupt our departure. "And where do you think you're going!?"

Almost in an ambush, Twilight and her friends showed up to offer the human one last goodbye. "Uh oh, you don't piss Rarity off and get away with it."

"Spike, language!" Twilight corrected the winged drake for his light vulgarity. The dragon appeared slightly annoyed while Twilight smiled back at the human. "Well I guess this really is your big send-off too. I'm gonna decree that you come back and visit as often as like maybe... hmmm, once a month."

He snickered as he replied back to her. "Sorry princess, but my queen's in another castle."

She giggled back. "Still a jerk."

"Still an egghead." He mocked back.

Meanwhile, Pinkie found herself at the top of the battlements and leapt onto the human all while screaming. "HUG PILE!"

As she called it out, the other five mares jumped on top of him and tackled him to the ground. All of them laughed as he expressed his minor discomfort. "I think you're about two letters off on that first word, Pinkie!"

As the others peeled off, Pinkie was the last one to remain attached. He tried to shake her off of his leg, only to fail in doing so. He had to drop himself into his shadow and resurface to get her off of him. The mare giggled and snorted all the while after watching him struggle for a bit. "Take good care of yourself, Nondis." Fluttershy said warmly.

Rarity walked up to him with a smile at first, but then came to a critical glare. "When I open my new location in Silver Shoals, I expect to see you at the grand opening, darling! Don't miss it, or I'll find out where you live!"

"Solid copy." Cheesed the man.

Rainbow played with his hair, knowing he didn't like it when she'd intentionally mess with his style. "Stay awesome! Don't be a stranger!"

"Ah ain't hip to them fancy new gadgets and whatnot, so Ah expect a letter in the mail!" Applejack suggested.

Nondis mimicked her accent with his own. "Ah'll reckon you catch on pretty quick."

Finally, Twilight stood in front of him, smiling back at him as she said softly. "So, till next time then."

"Yeah, next time." He finished, levitating his keys into the ignition. He walked over to his bike and started up the engine, revving up before he angled himself to leave. "Later, your majesty! Long live the princess!"

His vehicle kicked up a bit of dust and he carefully navigated his way down the streets and making his way out of the city. Luna and I soon took to the air to join with him. I looked back to the checkpoint entrance one more time, seeing the gathering of ponies waving goodbye. I began to tear up as Luna nuzzled me to comfort my brief outpouring of emotions.

Nondis waited before kicking it into high gear, looking back up at me. "Anymore places we need to address before we go full-send into the night?"

I looked up towards him and shouted. "Actually, I do have one! Mind if we take a detour!?"

"All good!" He hollered back.

He stalled his engine and we all came to a halt. The three of us gathered together and I teleported us all to where I wanted us to visit before leaving from off the mountain. We came to an open area, going to a mossy area by the waterfall. We took a winding path that lead to our final destination.

"Here we are." I called out.

While Nondis knew exactly where we were, Luna did not. "So, what's this place, Tia?"

"It's Prince Fair Charity and his fiancée's final resting place." He answered as I used my magic to clean the memory sphere sitting by the grave site. Both the image of the pegasus prince and his beautiful fiancée appeared before the two others. "She took me here the night we got the Approval Process Law repealed. I paid my respects here on that night."

For a moment, I felt my emotions overtake me, but Nondis stood by my side, helping me get through it just as I did once before. He hugged me all the while I tried to keep my crying to a minimum.

"So... I know it's been a long time overdue for this. But I guess this is goodbye, old friend."

Another 4 Years Later

We lived a simple life in Silver Shoals. Nondis, Luna, and I all lived together in a home that was relatively comfortable, often silent, and all the more beautiful with the waterfront we had. Since Nondis was especially favorable to the realtor, he managed to get the home at a reduced price, and the best thing was that he paid it off in full. So we had a home in a small bay town where the sunsets over the water were nice. Luna much loved the quiet nature of the town, I grew accepting of it. Nondis had the harder time adapting to it due to his frequent bouts of PTSD, the quiet reminded him of the lab.

So we sat out to make our own daily adventure of things, trying to make a life where there was seemingly little to do other than go out past the wharf and fish out in the water. We spent time playing on the beach, often running around and trying to discover things that most of the locals didn't have the energy to discover, like underwater caves, sunken ships, and looking for buried treasure. The activities kept him busy, until he decided that it would be better to go where there was an ample amount of noise.

He became a crosswalk guard for the kids after school.

They'd call him Mr. Stilts, often noting how high he stood over everyone else. And with him being so tall, the school staff saw it as a perfect match. You can't think of bad things when you're constantly interacting with kids, and he was the tallest being for miles out of town. He could see everything, he could regulate traffic, he could interact with other parents coming to walk their foals home, it was the perfect social stimulus to keep most of his darker thoughts in check. And after a long day at the school, making sure that the kids were safe, he came home to me and Luna. Dinner would be made by either one of us, but we tried our best to avoid having Luna volunteer herself to the kitchen.

In speaking of home goings, Nondis and I had a very tense relationship where the both of us had to ultimately respect Luna's presence in the home. Luna was already used to being in isolation, so being a recluse wasn't a problem for her. But it was an annoyance for both me and him. The reason why is because we would never know when she's home or not. She's so quiet that we'd barely even notice if she was there. And if she was, we couldn't really interact with one another the way we longed to. The first time we did while she was there, she had a habit of annoying me by means of either interference or intervention. In her eyes, if she couldn't have any give-and-go, neither could I.

It annoyed me to no end... but it made things between us more interesting.

Nondis didn't mind making alterations to accommodate for some much-needed alone time between us. His solution was to buy a yacht. So whenever Luna was heavily into her books, he would come home, I would be waiting for him on the boat, he'd steam it up, and we'd be out in the water, watching the wild weather patterns in the distance. Everything between calm waters, to distant storms, to multiple waterspout sightings, we watched them together. We enjoyed the quiet of each other's company out in the water... And we began to discover many secrets of our desires together, some even I myself never thought possible.

And of course, out in the waters of the beautiful setting sun, he brought me a ring.

The funny thing is that the proposal he had couldn't have gone anymore wrong. As we watched the weather together, he started to put together his planned package. Poetry, music, food, candlelight, all of it. But we didn't anticipate the weather formation to shift in our direction so quickly. The winds picked up and I began to feel a draft under my wings. I felt wonderful about it and decided to take a flight out over the water. But it wasn't just me that took a flight, the ring took one too. Before I had even noticed it, there was a waterspout forming just ten feet away from where we anchored, and with the tiniest shift, it made a direct hit on the yacht. But since it was still in a developing stage, it hadn't done much damage, but the ring was gone.

Nondis was devastated that the ring he bought for me was so suddenly swept by the sea-swallowing spout. But all that goes up eventually came back down. After some time of us docking on land, he apologized for everything going wrong. But in the midst of that apology, the box the ring came in clunked me on the head, but in a miraculous landing, the ring was situated on my horn as if he had planned for it to be there.

It was a sign from the universe for me. He just labeled it as bad weather.

Throughout the course of our engagement, our seafaring outings continued at least once a week. And in one of those outings, I found myself looking in the mirror, playing with my mane to see what all I could have done. I was already entering a new chapter in my life by retiring, and marriage was a drastic step in an unknown direction. So I thought about ways to spice up my appearance. I looked in a catalog, seeing what styles would possibly fit on me, growing curious as to what I could get away with.

Eventually I came up with my answer on a Thursday evening, three days before our Sea-faring Sunday, I asked him if he would still love me if I had shorter hair. He said he'd probably stop pulling my hair as much. I took it as a yes and went into the salon on Friday morning, came home with the anticipation of seeing his reaction when he got in from work. He sat on the couch and started tuning in to the radio, reading a book as I walked right by him.

He hummed lightly on my initial passthrough, but he was apparently reacting to a plot point in the book. I grabbed for his attention the second time, asking if I had anything strange on my face. He simply said no and that I changed my hair. I was left almost devastated, feeling like he had not paid much attention to it, or that it wasn't a style he liked. I just turned around and lost hope.

Then I felt a hand in the back of my head shove me into the couch.

It turned out that his appearance of nonchalance was all a ruse. He had been waiting for that moment from the time he walked in. I never knew him to be so aggressive than he was at that moment. The hand he had free molested me in ways I never new existed. Not that I minded it though, it turned out that my not having as much of a mane to pull prompted him to reach in further, grabbing at my head with such ferocity. I began to feel him, so much. I tried to prop my head out to tell him about Luna, but he didn't seem to care much about that boundary for the moment. It was the rush of knowing that we were set for trouble, trying to be quiet was our best bet of not having an interruption.

But he had other plans. And they were to see just how loud I could get before it grabbed her attention. The way he pushed and pulled me, threw me around that room made me coil my tail around his legs. The effort he put into getting me to scream had me panting into the cushions for mercy. The manner in which he pressed into my hindquarters made me hunger for release. And he didn't mind biting me, in fact, I grew to love the pointed canines he had.

Luna eventually shifted and we had to pretend all was normal. She walked into the room, seeing that she had interrupted us and grew proud of her accomplishment. She walked back to the room with a smug expression, Nondis made his way to the yacht with a smile on his face, and I was left sitting on an inexplicable stain on our couch.

I hated that man for the things he'd do to me.

The interesting thing about our relationship is that we started off with a pact where we would not engage in one another in that manner unless he had come into a more comfortable zone with his sexuality. It took almost a year for him to finally reach that place, but when he did, he proposed that we'd abstain from intercourse. I didn't agree with it initially, but he found ways to convince me that the wait was worth it. So he'd have me in every other position, taking me closer to the heights I had reached that one night before he had set out to his mission. He left me satisfied enough to accept his terms, but also left me wanting much more. It scared me just how good he could make me feel without taking me there.

Our relationship was a mix of all things, good, bad, and ugly. From fun out at sea, to fights at home, from sad moments of the past haunting both of us, to the happy memories that we made along the way, I fell madly in love with him, and I also learned how to love him through everything I felt, through everything he said, through everything we experienced, no matter how good or bad. We were partners in crime, and we sought to take over the little world we built for one another.

At last, the day had come.

Rarity and her staff were working hard on my head and dress, making sure that I'm pristine for the big day. The light is growing yellow, and the sun is on her way towards her resting place. The hour is nigh.

Rarity wipes the sweat from her brow. "There you go, darling! I know you do well without, but I must say you look absolutely divine!"

She holds a mirror to my face, and I am pleased with the way she did my makeup. "I look lovely, thank you Rarity."

"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine. Just try not to cry too much, the mascara will run." She warns me.

"I'll do my best." I promise her.

Twilight, Luna, and Cadance walks into the room, curious to see how I am doing. "Have you finished with her?" Luna asks excitedly.

"Have I? As if I needed to do all that much!" The fashion icon declares as she moves away from me, pointing her hooves at my face as I stood in my white flowing gown. "♪TADA!♪ As regal as the princess she is!"

"I'm not a princess anymore." I return to the mare.

She laughs me off and replies. "Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that."

"I mean, I'm still getting salutes. I don't have a bit of military power under my name right now." I point out to Rarity.

"That still doesn't change what you used to be, darling." She answers as another voice pops up in the room.

A small alicorn filly pops her head in through the door. "Auntie Twilight?"

I smile at the small presence as the high princess calls back to her niece. "Flurry! What's wrong?"

The alicorn opens the door to reveal the state of her wings. "I landed in poison joke, now my wings are really really small!"

I try not to laugh as I'm so used to seeing her with comically large wings. Instead they seem more filly-sized than anything, but they match her size so well. However, that couldn't stand by Flurry's standards. "Oh... goodness." Twilight says with a sigh. "I'm sure you can get Ms. Zecora to whip you up a little something."

Cadance questions her daughter. "Flurry, did you fly into the poison joke bushes again!?"

"I was playing hide-go-seek!" She replies innocently.

"Ugh! Girl, I swear you are your father's child." Cadance responds as she walks her daughter down the hall. "Talk to Zecora, get cleaned up, and get in place. You can't be the flower girl if you keep running through poison joke. If you behave, I'll get you a treat."

"Mommy, how come I can't see daddy right now?" She asks.

"Cause daddy's in the dressing room getting prepared, sweetheart." Her mother explains.

"But daddy doesn't usually wear clothes." Flurry brings up, providing a valid point.

The two continues for a while as they disappear down the hall. "But today's a special occasion. Why do you think you have on that dress right now?"

"She's talking up a storm now." I state obviously.

"Bigger than the one she caused when she was born?" Luna jokes, all of us in the room giggling in response.

"Tell me about it." Rarity cosigns.

Cadance comes running back into the room, closing the door behind her. "Sorry, ladies. Flurry just loves to fly around and bump into things she has no business being in."

"Oh does that little thing love to fly." I say with a smile, quietly wanting to adopt the filly for a week.

"Reminds me of a certain somepony." Luna points out, looking directly at me and pulling one of my wings out to observe the painted feathers. The ends were highlighted with a gradient of pink and orange to replicate the colors of the sunset sky.

"I can't believe she did my wings like this." I say, looking at them and being reminded of their former glory.

"Sister, it's your big day. Don't you feel like you deserve it for a change?" My sister asks.

Cadance jumps in with a jubilant smile. "Look at you. You're radiating way more than you ever did as a princess. Your aura is so pink and bright, you're filled with so much love right now."

I look back at the mirror, growing a bit nervous within myself. "Can I tell you about how many butterflies I have in my stomach right now?"

"You're going to be fine." Twilight reassures me as Cadance began to sing.

"What if I trip?"

The two mares stop their singing as they both look at me perplexed over my sudden rush of nerves. "Huh?"

"What if I mess up, what would I look like to him if I had tripped and fell?" I ask, nervously pacing back and forth, wanting this moment to be perfect for him. "What if I step on the dress, I fall and crash into Fluttershy's bird choir? What would he think of me if I messed up that bad just moments before!?"

"Is she serious right now?" Twilight asks the others.

Luna giggles as she answers the mare's question. "Oh, this is quintessential Celeste."

"Wait, really!" Cadance is brought to shock as she realizes that I'm acting as my normal self when I am nervous, revealing the part that I would so often try to hide.

"What if I go out there and do something foolish? What if I wear this makeup and start crying and ruin this whole dress? How would I even come close to apologizing to Rarity?"

"Celestia." Twilight tries to get my attention, but fails.

"I don't have any titles for him. Was my getting married after my retirement a good idea? I could've given him much more than just me tripping down the aisle."

"Auntie." Cadance tries to stop my ranting, but I only go further into my fears.

"What if I mess up the honeymoon, he'll annul the marriage! What if he really wants kids and I can't provide that because of our genetic differences!? I'll be such a disappointment! What about me in estrus, I never spent estrus with a stallion before, I'll probably kill him with all my restrictions removed! Oh gracious, I already only have eighty years with him if everything went perfectly, I'd probably have another six months of a marriage before becoming a widow! I'm going to widow myself!"

"Tia!" Luna shouts in my ears.

"Yes?" I snap back to the present time.

After so many years of watching me deal with Nondis, she employs the same tactic I'd use for him. "Deep breaths, count to ten."

"One, two, three, four, five, six..."

"Tia." Luna chides, trying to get me to not focus on my last fearful thought.

"Seven... eight, nine... ten." I begin to calm down considerably, looking as Twilight starts to speak.

"If I remember it right, you told me not to worry about my big coronation as much." She reminds me.

"And you told me that with everything that went disastrously wrong at my wedding, there could be nothing else that could go wrong." Cadance states calmly.

Luna holds my hooves as she speaks. "Tia, your future is waiting for you out there. Don't you think he's as nervous as you are right now? Don't you think he's asking himself several questions of how he would be able to provide certain things for you?"

I look away from my sister, thinking more about the man I was set to walk down the aisle to. Even if the moments leading to this were imperfect by every metric, I grow to want only one thing. "I just want this all to be perfect for him."

Twilight snickers as she sits beside me. "This is going to sound pretty wild coming from me of all ponies, I know. There's no such thing as perfection."

"There's no such thing as preplanning for what goes wrong in a marriage." Cadance reinforces confidently before coming up with every case to the contrary. "Well, then again there are prenuptial agreements, but those marriages aren't about anything real, they're just as political and superficial as two celebrities dating, and often times it'll be over in five years or less. And there's no prenup to this one."

My sister nuzzles me. "Tia, the both of you have lost something precious in your lives. Not anything material or external, I mean very personal sanctuaries that have been desecrated by the envy, greed, and wrath of others. You've ruled this nation for over a thousand years carrying those scars, his is fresh in comparison to you. Only you can give him the guidance and reinforcement to help him navigate through the rest of his life, because only you know how to reach him in ways many of us can't or can no longer do."

"We've been telling you for years that you need to look for your own happiness. You've had a path to your lonesome for too long, you've carried that weight by yourself for too long. You know that he anchors you when you feel like the winds of the world are going to sweep you away. You are rooted by him to your future. And he's proven that he's good for it, come hell or high water." Cadance adds.

Twilight hugs me from behind as she speaks. "I will be honest, doing this hurts me in a small way, it's a bittersweet thing. But not nearly as deeply as I thought it would. The only reason why I see myself feeling this way is because I saw myself being where you are, freaking out almost as much as you do. Had I known 'Twilighting' was actually a habit I picked up from you, I would've had it changed by royal decree to 'Celesting' from day one! But the bottom line is that my happiness isn't just with him, it's with the friends I've made along the way, and seldom times the stallions who grow bold enough to ask me if I'm available at such-and-such time on any arbitrary day of the week. I mean sure, I have to be afraid of who I let get close to me because my body isn't something I want advertised out to the media. But I don't have to be afraid to date because of stupid legal consequences, and the one that I do feel deserve my more intimate attention will get exactly that."

"Twilight, don't you think you're getting off topic here?" Rarity quickly asks her.

The high princess blushes in her ears and cheeks as she corrects herself. "What I'm trying to say to you is this: My personal happiness does not supersede your personal happiness. Remember, I have over a thousand years to get where you are now. I might not have even that long, but you paved the way for me to enjoy this freedom I have. And you also get to enjoy it, because you helped fight for it. So stop looking at what's gonna go wrong because it will go wrong somehow. Focus on the destination for today, then enjoy the journey tomorrow."

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, you're trying to take my title from under me aren't you?" Cadance asks her sister-in-law.

"What? No!" She denies adamantly.

The pink princess smirks at the purple mare. "Are you sure, because I don't think I could've said that any better than you did."

"And you're already taller than her too." Luna adds, mocking the young princess.

As everyone giggles at her, she grows bashful over her recent growth spurt. "Stop! I'm still trying to get used to the growing part. My mane's already sparkling more than usual, and I don't know how you can walk with this much hair in your tail, I step and trip way too much nowadays!"

"You'll get used to it." I reply as I look to my shortened manestyle.

Rarity smiles as she holds a mirror to my face. "So, give yourself a look and tell me how are you feeling?"

I smile back at the image of myself. "I feel ready."

The ceremony starts, and I am left in the hall for the moment in which the correct music plays. And as if it wasn't enough for a simple wedding, there was a whole small orchestra commissioned to perform the music pieces as all of the preliminaries take place. The conductor starts with their piece, Fluttershy's birds sing along in what sounds like a majestic introduction to our special day.

Twilight enters into the chapel, walking the aisle first as she will be the one conducting the wedding. She walks slowly, almost as to set the pace to which I am to march. Next, were the parents of the groom. Both Mr. and Mrs. Haines give the signal to Luna and Cadance to bring up the curtains to hide me. They walk down the aisle to their reserved seats. Being that I myself had no family outside of the ones who hid me, Blueblood and his many wives serve as my spiritual family members, they attend their seats. I am spared the moment of watching as Nondis and his friends all enter into the chapel. Luna and Cadance are doing a great job of hiding me from the groom, even though I truly wish to see the look on his face as he sees me.

Each of them walk in alone, slowly building the assembly at the alter. As the groom disappears from the hall, the curtains are brought down, I am left looking at those who slowly file in. Beautiful white doves are set up beside me, waiting to be released. Each of the guys look at me and give me a respectful nod before entering, almost as though they still acknowledge my prior titles. The last one who serves as a groomsman is none other than Shining Armor, who nods all the same as he serves as the best man.

Rarity walks after him, serving as one of my very own bridesmaids. Applejack follows, as does Rainbow Dash, then Pinkie Pie, and finally Cadance bringing up the position of being my maid of honor. I am already getting increasingly nervous as my time quickly approaches, the music continues to swell into beautiful arpeggios and grandiose glissandos that sweep my imagination as I hear the piece they play. My heart grows fond of the moment I am set to walk down this aisle. I can already feel the tears sneaking up on me.

I open my eyes, watching as Flurry Heart flies into the sanctuary with her flowers, gracefully adorning the aisle as wonderfully as I imagine her mother would. And then bringing up the ceremonial rings was none other than little Jasper, Melanie and Rickey's own son. I'm sure their hearts are filled with pride for how well their son is doing.

The cages of doves are rolled into place as six young mares, all being the daughters of Blueblood, rang loudly the bells to announce my entrance. "Make way for the bride!" They called victoriously, eager to play their part so that they may watch as the things my sister and our friends have helped us put together.

The music changes to a more subtle drone. I walk to take my place beside Luna, who watches ahead as the doors were open. The doves fly out, with small tabs attached to their talons to carry light silk sashes. I'm almost nauseous watching the curtains finally reveal me.

A piano interlude starts, the strings softly accompany it. Sunset stands in human form, playing her guitar as Cliff stands beside her, playing a grand piano, singing me down the aisle.

"Tia, it's time." I forget that I am supposed to be walking, I'm so lost in the moment that I am petrified. But I take those first few steps, and that's where it hits me. I am really here.

The man I am to wed, he swallows down a lot that dares to well up within him as I get closer. I can tell he's holding back as hard as I am. And then Cliff... shows out.

Nondis looks to the sky, biting his lips, trying to hold it in as I stand before the alter. I'm clutching onto my sister's hoof, trying not to bawl my eyes out at the words that was sung. I look at him, he looks to me, and we come to grips that this is really us.

"Greetings and blessings, my dear subjects." Twilight begins, then turning to the crowd with a wink. "Still getting used to saying that." The moment breaks us both out of our entrancement, back to the giggling present. Her brief joke gives us the chance to recover. "We have come together in the spirit of harmony to witness the joining together of this man and this mare in the bond of marriage. It is at once one of both humanity's and equinity's greatest blessings. However, marriage is not to be entered into lightly, but soberly and deliberately." Twilight then speaks to us. "Nondis Patricia Haines and Celeste Delanise Valkyrie thank you for joining them and sharing in this very special day."

Off to the groom's side, I see the usual candidate already breaking down more than I am in the moment. "Shining, don't." Cadance whispers to her husband.

"I'm sorry, it's already starting." He tries to collect himself, but we all know he'll be worse than the ones who's actually getting married.

Twilight ignores her brother's emotional conflict and carries on with the ceremony. "Who is giving this mare to be married to this man?"

"I am." Luna answers so proudly.

"A marriage is not only the joining together of two individuals, it is also a joining together of two families. The care, support, and nurture which have been extended to Nondis and Celeste by their families is as important now as it has ever been. In fact, it needs to be extended now to include another party. Both families need to be committed to support both partners in this marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Haines, you are not losing a son but rather you are gaining a daughter. Do you promise to love and encourage Celeste as you would your own?"

"We will." Mr. Haines says as he watches his son have his big day.

"We love you, dear." Mrs. Haines adds. "Though it's pretty weird to call you dear when I'm so much younger than you." She quips.

The room softly giggled in unison, Twilight continues. "Luneste Selene Valkyrie, you are not losing a sister but rather you are gaining a brother. Do you promise to love and encourage Nondis as you would your own?"

"I shall." She answers soflty.

"Both parties may be seated." Luna lets me go, to take the steps onto the alter by myself, but to not be by myself. At last, he and I stand on even ground. "If there is anyone here who believes in good faith that these two should not be wed, let them speak now or forever hold your peace."

"Mm-mmm. I wish they would." Melanie speaks out sassily, causing everyone in the room to laugh.

Twilight tries not to laugh as she continues the ceremony. "If the bride and groom have any vows, you may now exchange them now."

I want to get mine out of the way quickly, but before I could summon for mine, Nondis reaches into his pocket and fumbles around as he pulls a folded piece of paper with a bunch of mistakes and crosses written out on it. He hurries himself to speak. "It took me two weeks to come up with what I wanted to say to you. It took me a month to practice saying it without having to use this silly piece of paper. And I thought about writing you one of those sonnets you like." He's awfully nervous, and it's adorable to watch him struggle. He's more worried about messing things up than I am. After a while, he looks at the paper and places it back down. "But as I went on and on thinking about how I wanted this to be perfect, I started to think back on my life while being here, how nothing went as planned, how my first romance didn't quite go the distance, or having the career that I have right now, or even being heralded as a hero as I did those years ago, or you know... the waterspout incident. So I decided that I wasn't going to go by this anymore."

In an act that some would call blasphemy, he tears his vows to shreds and leaves them at his feet. He looks to me and speaks from his heart.

"Life isn't a program, it isn't some funeral with an order of service and an obituary. It's full of twisting turns and changes, many I'll never know where they'll take us. But in the end, I don't want to make a single turn without you. I don't want to live a day without you being here with me. You're the sun that rises in the east and sets in the west, the four seasons of my year, the days I wake up to and thank God for breathing in the air you make habitable for me to thrive in. If I am ever in any way a plant, I am a stubborn weed who will grow through the cracks of any structure, just to have my time with you, just to bask in the light you give me, to commune with you. And with your light and nourishment, I hope to germinate more weeds who will look up to you as their provider, their caregiver, the warmth that births them into the world. And I hope that my imperfect leaves, my sometimes awkward shape and presence, won't drive you to set in my life. And if you were to ever set beyond the horizon, I will wait for you through the darkest hour, for the next dawn... so that when you rise, I can tell you again how beautiful you are to the world you give life to."

As Nondis concludes his vows, Alex goes on to lightly poke fun at his younger brother. "Gosh, you suck."

We all laugh at his impeccable timing. But as the silence ensues, I begin to read off from the scroll I prepared. "In the days I have experienced my time away from the crown, I was given the blessing of seeing you grow into the man that you are today. I know I had much to say in this moment, many poems. haikus, and sonnets I have written, checked for grammar, and finalized, only to be discarded shortly after. These past few days have felt like the thousand years I have lived, but not in the sense of it's longevity, rather the sense of anxiety I felt in being away from you. I could easily compose something with the most intimate literature to describe my fondness of you. But to follow your chaotic example..."

I followed his lead, ripping my vows and dumping them at my hooves.

I tried my best to speak from my heart. "I now realize in our being together that many of the instances that we share are so readily unrehearsed. How could I even begin to ascertain the craxis of life when I have not begun to live the one I own for myself? For the longest time, I felt myself cursed to be a mare devoid of such intimate language and understanding, as those who will dare to come closer would incinerate before my very eyes. So for much of my life I have repelled those who would attract themselves to me. But very few have willingly stepped into the zero horizon, taking on the heat I radiated, and stood. No, you went further. You walked to me as you were engulfed by flames. I called to you, telling you that you would become ash should you remain. But you ignored me and stepped even further. I cried and screamed for you to get back, and yet you still approached. I tried to cast you away, but then you touched me. You touched me when others simply wished to and wanted not to. You reintroduced what it meant for me to know and rediscover what it meant to be vulnerable."

I sigh, looking to Rarity as to tell her that I won't be able to hold back my tears. I grow nervous that I am to ruin the hard work of her and her assistants. But she smiles and me, wiping the tears from her own eyes. "Oh, don't worry about the makeup now. Have a good one, darling."

I look back to my betrothed and explain myself. "I swore not to cry because of the makeup, Rarity spent two hours on getting my blends right. But I'm sure you don't mind, you never did mind when I would cry. You would tell me to let myself go, and you would hold me together. I hate that I don't have something so... nearly as beautiful as how you spoke to me. I'm not good with impromptu, I never know how to go without a plan, or a structure. But you are a perfect chaos, breaking every barrier you endure to see me. I am so incomplete without my purpose, and you remind me why I am still here. You make me feel like I have so much more to live for, even when I tell myself that my time is done. I cast away any and all of my longevity to experience the fleeting moment of your embrace, the simplest compliments." I'm still fighting myself over how much I was crying, I start to ramble on and on, expressing my feelings. "I know you say that you humans will mostly live to seventy-five, but that's too short! How do I live for 1134 years, and have only another fifty to tell you how much you complete me? How do I give you all of my love in just the half of a century I dwarf? To call it an improper fraction is an understatement, it's an insult!..."

I need to calm down, so I take a moment to breathe. Twilight appears as my break is an awkward end of my vows, but I signal to her that I have more on my heart.

"But I don't care for that anymore. How could it be an insult when one day with you is an overindulgence of blessings? If anything, it's a perfect representation of how fragile those tender moments are, those tiny fractions of true happiness you hold in your hoof. When heated too much, they melt like chocolate, so sweet and small, the morsels that they are." I finally grow weak, and stagger. I try to find the strength to finish. "I'll have the rest of my life to come up with ways to say it and show it, but this time I will learn how to be as spontaneous and heartfelt as you. I may not have a crown to wear anymore, but you are the king I serve, the husband I adore, the friend I cherish, and the stranger that smote my heart. So please keep growing, my little weed. For if my light doesn't reach you, then I am pointless."

I squint, heaving as I stood before him. He's still trying to hold on, but he's fairing a lot better than I am. Meanwhile I look to Rarity, who's even worse than I am. She jokingly complains through her tears. "I expected an uglier cry than that one, darling. That was barely a sniffle." More laughs filled the room, but they did not work as well for me as I knew what was next. My eyes still meet with the man I am set to spend the rest of my life with.

Twilight continued on. "I'll be sure that Spike has that all written down between the two of you for future enjoyment." She adds. She looks to the man standing in front of me. "Nondis, do take you Celeste to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, excluding all others, as long as you both shall live?"

A warm expression glows upon his face as he gives his answer. "I─"

A hand firmly coming down on his arm interrupts him. "Uh, excuse us for a moment. We the high council of the groom must convene for a meeting of confirmation." I am left stunned, perplexed that such an interruption took place at such a pivotal moment. "This way, sir." Rickey says, acting as though he's security.

"Um... what... okay?" Nondis complies, he huddles in with all his groomsmen and they start whispering over to one another.

"So what's the play, coach?" Asks Stanton.

"You sure about this?" Alex briefly questions.

"I dunno, seems pretty risky." Shining advises.

"Also hella dangerous." Cliff says.

"One more look." Nondis says as they look back up to me, causing the audience to laugh and giggle at their antics. He drops his head back into the huddle. "Right, so here the plan."

"Okay." They all nod.

"I'll type a text to a girl I used to see, tell her that I chose this cutie pie with whom I wanna be."

Alex asks. "And you apologize if that message gets her down?"

"And you'll CC every girl that you'd see-see round town?" Stanton inquires.

The group begin to rock back and forth as they chant. "Yeah, hate to see them frown, but I rather see her smiling. Wetness all around me? True, but I'm no island. Peninsula, maybe." Nondis says.

"Makes no sense." Rickey replies.

"Yeah, I know crazy. Give up all this pussy cat that's in your lap?" Cliff questions.

"No looking back. Space ships don't come equipped with rear-view mirrors. They dip as quick as they can. The atmosphere is now ripped." Nondis answers.

"You're so like a Pip." Alex complains.

"I'm glad it's night. So the light from the sun would not burn me on my bum when I shoot the moon high, jump the broom like a premie out the womb."

Stanton jumps in. "Now hold up, partner. Too soon, don't do it. Reconsider, read some literature on the subject. You sure?"

"Fuck it." Dismisses the groom.

Rickey pats Nondis on the back. "You know we got your back like chiropractic."

Cliff nods. "And if that bitch do you dirty, you wear her ass out just like detergent. Now hurry, hurry, go on to the alter. I know you ain't a pimp, but pimp remember what we taught you."

The party of men rocked as they chanted in unison. "Keep your heart, my boy. Keep your heart. Yeah! Keep your heart, my boy! Keep your heart!"

Breaking off, Alex gives him more verbal encouragement. "Man that girl smart, Nondis! That girl smart!"

Shining pushes him back to me with his magic with one final bit of advice. "Play your part."

"Play my part." Nondis confirms as he looks back to me. "I will." He says with a smile. He leans in and whispers to me. "Now that one we did rehearse."

I smile at him, rolling my eyes as I mutter to the girls behind me. "Boys will be boys."

All of them nod in sassy approval. Twilight brings her attention to me. "Celeste, do take you Nondis to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, excluding all others, as long as you both shall live?"

I can't reach his face as I'm standing, but I can still caress him with my magic. With one warm stroke of his cheek, I point him to my face and answer the question. "I already have."

A few tears dropped from his cheeks, he looks away a bit embarrassed. "Dammit, she got me." Both of our wedding parties giggle at the exchange.

"Well this has been the giggliest wedding I have ever conducted. But I can only assume that your marriage will be just as wonderful." Twilight comments as she nods to little Jasper to come forward. Melanie steps up and guides her son where to walk next with the rings in tow. "You have chosen to seal you vows by the giving and receiving of rings. Though different in their applications in the case of you two, the ring forms a perfect circle, without beginning or end, and is thereby a symbol of eternity and signifies the duration of the commitment you are making. The gold of which the rings are made signify the purity and value of the relationship into which you'll enter. Let us now exchange these rings."

I lift his hand and place his ring on his finger with my magic. "With this ring, I do thee wed."

Nondis takes his ring and kisses it before placing it carefully on my horn. "With this ring, I do thee wed."

My jaw trembles as I hear the words expressed by Twilight herself. "And now, by the authority vested in me as High Princess of Equestria, and in accordance with the laws of Equestria, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now─" I wasted not time, I leapt into the air, letting my wings unfurl as they lift me to reach up to my husband... Just being able to say those words at last make feel so grand. I coil my wings around him and dive my lips into his. He doesn't express shock or surprise, but rather the openness to return the affection. We break off, smiling and snickering for the moment before going back into each other. Twilight finally breaks out of her silence and points to the both of us. "...Do that."

The audience applauds, Shining erupts into tears again, Rarity does the exact same thing. I finally break down myself, but he lifts my chin to see his own tear-struck face and cleans mine. I melt into him, gently plugging my lips into his.

In the applauding audience, I could see many other faces looking on with excitement. Solemn Oath cheered me on with her wife Lemon Hearts, who was wiping her eyes of tears. The collection of young element bearers watching on quietly as they clap continuously. Starswirl and his party express happiness in seeing me finalize the marriage. Friends and allies from afar watch as I am made a wife. Blue Royal stands in the back, holding a photo of her brother as she expresses her congratulations. Both my new in-law parents stand in ovation. "That's my boy! My boy's a man now!" Mr. Haines exclaims cheerfully.

Velvet whispers to her husband. "My. Look at her go. They look so beautiful together."

"Could be different circumstances, but I'll take it." Crescent whispers back to his wife.

She gives him a nudge. "Five bits say they don't make it to the carriage without some fondling around."

He shows a devious grin. "Remember how our time went after we got into the carriage from the chapel?"

Her ears ran red as she fanned herself. "We almost made Shining Armor right then and there."

Twilight grimaced at her parent's exchange, but shook it off and carried on. "Ladies and gentlemen, fillies and gentlecolts, and all creatures! It is my pleasure to introduce to you, for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Valkyrie-Haines!"

As I climb off from my newly-minted husband, I watch as his groomsmen swamp his shoulders with approval. "My boy, LOOK AT YOU!" Cliff screams.

Rickey whispers over to the groom. "Hey, remember all that good shit you were talking about back at the frat house? How you was gonna knock her down?"

"Hey, that's a pretty big tree you gotta knock down, my boy!" Stanton says as he repeatedly slaps his back.

As the men continue to exchange in fellowship, Luna walks over to me and leers towards the collection of boys. "Well you have to start somewhere, Tia."

Acknowledging my sister's words, I step in and pull my husband away from them. "Sorry boys, I know you've had a week to tailgate and rehearse all of what you did. But I'm taking him off of your hands and hooves for a bit."

Alex playfully pulls at Nondis' arm. "Damn, she already trying to rip our boy away from us. Ah, the feels man, I hate it."

Stanton wipes his eyes, trying to hide the fact that he had started to tear up. "Nah, dude. We gotta run it back. Let's go back to being kids again, lets go back to co-op on XBox, let's go back to the Lunchables and Capri Sun! Let's go back to the ranch in the summer! Oh God, time, please stop!"

As the brother's antics come to an end, they politely push him over to me. Alex dusts his shoulders off for him. "He's all yours. Just don't break him."

"Oh no, I don't plan to do that at all." I say happily before looking to my husband with a sinister smirk. "He'll be breaking me instead."

Twilight's jaw drops as I make my declaration. Cadance gasps loudly, almost to ask me how could I say something so vulgar for once. Luna almost appears proud of me for finally coming out of my shell. Alex playfully faints. Rickey holds a hand over his mouth in surprise. Cliff coughs and screams. "AAYYYOOOOO!"

I grab the collar of my husband's shirt and drag him down the aisle proudly. "High score!"

We took to the courtyard to host the reception. Creatures from all walks of life joined us in celebrating our exchange of vows. I took the time to also thank Cliff for providing me with such a soulful serenade to have me walk down the aisle, but then he informed me that Nondis had actually picked out the song to be a surprise for me. I told him that even if it was a surprise for me, it probably hurt him harder than it did for me.

As he's explaining that story, Rarity repeatedly taps on the dark-skinned man. "Darling, we need to talk about what you did."

"What did I do?" He asks bashfully.

"That madness you unleased upon us like that. No one in Equestria sings all of that so effortlessly. Details, darling! Technique, share!"

He shrugs as he gives his reply. "All I did was sing a run."

Rarity further digs into his talent, gushing over the unheard method to which he connected his notes. "You call those runs!? Those were flights, darling! FLIGHTS!"

Both Nondis and I laugh as Rarity continues to shake the man silly. Thorax and Pharynx tap me and bow to me as they speak. "Again, we really want to offer our congratulations to you."

"Thank you, Thorax." I reply to him.

Meanwhile the younger changeling ruler looks to my husband with a grin. "Heh, it's too bad you ain't much of a fighter nowadays. I would love to get a spar in every now and again."

He throws his hands up in surrender. "Nah, I'm not fighting unless I absolutely need to. And besides, the wife forbade it."

I also answer on his behalf. "He's already been through a lot. He needs to conserve his energy."

A heavy and sassy voice pops in from behind me. "So, hitting the high score, I see?"

I turn around to quickly greet the hippogriff queen. "Novo, it's so great to see you! I'm so happy you came."

She says, bringing a claw to the side of my face. "You might not have a crown to show for it, but you're still the queen I remember."

"Oh stop it!" I whisper with a slight blush.

"Girl, I love the mane, it's so bold for you. When I usually imagine you, I see the flowing curtain of colors in the wind. Now, it feels like you've finally let all your inhibitions go and you decided to let the rain fall where it may. Now that's a good look."

I pat my head slightly "I was wanting to at least look like I was entering a new phase in life. I was scared that my husband didn't like it but he did."

She points out my use of the word 'husband'. "And there you go, dropping the H-bomb, how does it feel?"

I start to think of every face that willingly served me in wars of times past, the church with the empty pews, and the resounding silence of another coronation I presided over. A regretful melancholy starts to fill my mind. "If I could only speak to every pony who fought to try to make this possible. There are far too many names."

"Girl, I can imagine. I'm so happy for you." She says as she brings me in for a hug.

Nondis watches me silently before Solemn walks up to him and calls him out. "Great looking up, Captain."

He turns back around, moderately annoyed. "I keep telling you to stop calling me that."

She returns his attitude in kind. "First you had to fight me to respect your rank, now you don't want me to respect the fact that you had it? Make up your mind already."

Another guard in a ceremonial dress uniform approached with a number of ribbons and medals to his chest. "As long as there's a statue of you in the garden, you'll always be 'captain' to us."

Nondis is surprised to see the pegasus looking up at him. "Humbreeze, you still alive?"

"Up and kicking it." He replies cheerfully before calling over to another young guard dressed in a ceremonial uniform. "Hey rookie, get over here!"

A blue griffon takes to the air and lands beside his superior. "Sir."

Humbreeze pats the griffon on his back. "This one is looking up to be the next captain himself. He's already got saving the world under his belt a few times. And he works well with the princess too. I think he might be next after Solemn gets done."

He smiles and kneel down to the griffon. "Great job, Gallus. That's some pretty high praise you're getting there."

"Actually, you inspire me, sir." He replies in a humble manner.

As I'm watching the young guards interact with the former captain, Twilight comes up to me, brimming with life. "So, Mrs. Valkyrie-Haines, would you care to do the honors?" She asks as she points to the sun.

I look up to the sun seeing the celestial object still hanging around in the sky. I grow surprised that it hadn't been lowered yet. Twilight nudges her head towards the sun to imply what I should do. "Me?"

"Nondis thought it was a great idea to have you set the sun one last time. I agreed with him. So, still got another one in you?"

While I look to my former student with pursed lips, I glare back at my newlywed husband. "Give me a moment." I tell her before dragging him down to my height and confronting him on his plan. "Honey, Twilight is telling me that you requested that I lower the sun one last time."

"Oh, is that why it's not night yet?" He answers with a coy expression.

I shake my head and look around to see everyone staring at me for the big moment. Not wanting to deny a request from the high princess in charge, I took to the task while warning my husband. "You're going to take responsibility for this, you know." I close my eyes, letting my magic connect with the sun for the first time in years. My eyes raise as I hear the voice of an old friend.

The nostalgic feeling of hearing my mother's voice echo back to me in my mind warms my heart. But I stop to realize what I had said to Nondis earlier. I don't even bother lowering the sun a single inch as I glare over to my husband, who looks at me with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Hand. Out." I command.

He immediately recognizes what I want him to do. "Oh nah, I'm good."

But Twilight emphatically takes my side on the issue. "THAT'S A WONDERFUL IDEA! Instead of just cutting the cake, you lower the sun with her! THAT'S PERFECT!"

The crowd around us really appreciates the idea and start cheering for him to join me in my work, Novo especially starting a chant. I cheese back to him and mock the fact that his plan had backfired. "Well you wouldn't want to disappoint, now would you?"

He doesn't even attempt to argue against me, only sighing with the realization that he had to do it. "I get top, you get bottom."

"Now you know that's not how it works." I pointed out.

He holds out his hand and accepts his defeat gracefully. "Fine."

The magic of his hand turns silver, he starts to exert a great effort in gently allowing the sun to fall into his grasp. I join him in his attempt, letting the weight of the sun come down slowly beyond the horizon. But as the seconds wear away, I begin to realize just how heavy the sun felt after not having to perform the task for some years. I struggle a bit, but Nondis' own magic keeps me from having to work hard. He crouches down to slowly let the sun fall, I lower my head to guide it, and the sky grew dark.

After having done the work, Nondis stands back up in a pant. "That is exhaustive."

I bashfully admit my lack of fine magic control. "I'm a bit out of practice myself. That's embarassing."

Twilight is pleased with our collective effort and announces to the crowd. "Just as the two join their efforts to achieve the great, they look to face every obstacle in their lives together. Let's give them a round of applause!" Everyone cheers. Nondis waved lightly as I bowed my head in thanks. "And on that note, we hereby start the reception with the first dance of the bride and groom!"

Nondis looks back at the purple princess. "You've really picked up with this impromptu thing, haven't you?"

"She's her mother's child." I commented as I stood to face him.

The sound of an orchestra starting up the first few chords graced the entire courtyard. Luna looks to the sky and sends a number of shooting stars across the way. It's still an effortless feat to her, but Twilight, in a great effort, weaves a spell in the sky, sending bright streaks of green and pink across the nightscape. Everything in this moment feels right.

He extends his hand out to me, waiting for me to take it. I accept his offer and let him sweep me off of my hooves. The entire time, he holds me, my hindlegs dangling in the air. He slowly sways, guiding my helpless self in whatever direction he wishes. I close my eyes and take in the moment, at last having my moment in the midnight sun.

"Nondie." I whisper.

"Yes?" He answers.

I lean my head into his chest, feeling the beating heart tickle my eardrums. I am enraptured. "I love you."

He kisses my forehead tenderly, swaying me so gently.

"I love you too... Tia."

And so the not-princess gets the fairy tale ending she's waited for.

The first portion was a bit grim, but it was more to actively display the dark depths she can ultimately return to, but not without showing the level of restraint that a ruler can have. Of course, she couldn't let those guild members get away with trying to conscript young kids into their cause, sending them into the cycle of violence that would only breed mistrust and hatred. She already knows where that can lead, being that it was done before during her rule.

But she couldn't also let those young adults and teenagers, who were already exposed to the cruel realities of the Corrotto District, follow through without offering them a glimpse of the reality they'd have to endure for the crimes the guild members had committed.

Also, as many of you have discovered in reading, she made the decision to not play around anymore. She's no longer letting the formalities dictate her actions as opposed to taking every legal avenue she can to take accountability for her past and the present events.

As for the wedding, I paced it out as though I wanted the readers to actually experience the ceremony themselves from her perspective. It would be easier to cut to the bride walking down the aisle to the quick vows and finally the big kiss. But I felt it was better to let the characters have fun and enjoy the moment.

Fun fact: I actually played that song Cliff sang for a wedding once before. Needless to say that the bride was in tatters as her dad walked her down the aisle.

And with that, there's but one final account to provide...

See you when it's done.