With a large flash inside the Canterlot Palace, Celestia, Luna, and Fiery appeared in the middle of Celestia’s study. Celestia was the first to speak up as they returned. “Well, that went a lot better than expected.” Fiery began to make grunting noises, as his mouth was still forcibly zipped closed by Celestia. “Oh, forgive me Fiery, I had almost forgotten.” She replied with a smile as her horn glowed, and the zipper on Fiery’s mouth disappeared.

As Fiery began to move his mouth to make sure that he was able to speak again, he looked at Celestia with daggers in his eyes. He took in a deep breath and spoke in a calm voice. “Luna? Do you mind if you leave me and Celestia for a few minutes? I need to speak to her alone.”

Luna, not picking up on his anger, nodded and started to trot out of the room happily, but giving Fiery a kiss on the cheek on her way out. When Luna finally left, Celestia spoke. “So what do you need from me Fiery?”

“What the fuck are you thinking?”

Celestia smiled at Fiery’s outburst and responded calmly. “Whatever do you mean?”

Fiery sighed. “You know damn well what I’m talking about Celestia.” He said in a calm voice, still trying his best to contain his anger at the current situation. “How in the world would this protect us Celestia? Forget the other reasons why I’m pissed about this, but what makes you think that a fucking marriage would protect Equestria?! If they really wanted this world, they would easily take it over, even if you did threaten them! All you’re doing is delaying the inevitable!”

“Which is exactly why we’re making arrangements so that they wouldn’t set foot in this world.” Celestia answered.

“For how long?! This is the United States we’re talking about Celestia! Even if Obama agrees to this, he only has one term left! After that, who knows what the fuck is going to happen…! So I’m asking you Celestia, why? Why are you doing this?”

Celestia sighed and answered him. “Well, if you really must know, I needed some excuse for you to get married to Luna, and-“

“So that’s the reason then?!” Fiery shouted in anger. “What gives you the fucking right to tell me who to marry?!”

“Well for one Fiery, you had happily agreed to it a thousand years ago-“

“That was then, this is now! Things have changed!” Fiery once again shouted, then, began to rub his eyes with his hoof in frustration as he sighed. “What would happen to the other girls?” He asked calmly.

“Is this what all of this is about? What would happen to the other girls if you got married?” Celestia asked in disbelief.

Fiery looked back up at Celestia and glared. “Well sorry for fucking loving them.”

Celestia giggled a bit as Fiery continued to glare at her and used her magic to hover a piece of paper over to them, then had sat it down in front of Fiery. “Read it.” She said with a smile.

Fiery looked down at the paper, then back up at Celestia. “What is it?” He asked as he looked back down again.

“Well if I told you, there wouldn’t be any reason for you to read it, now would there?”

Fiery sighed and began to read. As he read it, he started to recognize it as the harem law, and looked back up at Celestia with confusion. “I don’t get it, so what?”

“Well don’t you understand?” She asked back as she continued to smile.

“Understand what?”

Celestia rolled her eyes and then answered him. “Read the very last part of it.”

Fiery complied and continued to read, and read it over and over, but still didn’t understand. “So? This wouldn’t apply to me.”

“And why not?” Celestia asked.

“Because I’m a pony?”

Again, Celestia rolled her eyes. “Maybe you think that, but does your world think that?”

“It isn’t a matter of if they think I’m a pony or human or whatever, it’s a matter of me being born a pony! And the other girls know that, so this law wouldn’t apply to me!”

“But that’s just it Fiery. The only ponies who know of you being human are you, your friend, me, Luna, your mother, Fancy Pants, and the girls in your harem. Nopony else knows about your situation. I mean, as well the Elements of Harmony of course, but that’s beside the point. What I’m trying to say Fiery, is that we can introduce you as a human from Earth, and that you’re here as a part of the peace treaty, then, you can keep the harem because you aren’t technically a pony.” Celestia told him with another smile.

“And what happens if somepony does find out? What then?” Fiery asked.

“Why do you have to be so pessimistic?”

“Well sorry for trying to tie up all loose ends, and you also haven’t answered me about what you’re planning to do with the US if they do decide to invade despite your threats. I mean, there has to be something that only we can give them so that they wouldn’t think of invading!”

“Like what?” Celestia asked.

“I don’t know, magic?”

“I don’t think that could work Fiery.”

“And why not?” Fiery asked, but only got a raised eyebrow in response. He sighed and continued to speak. “Fine, so magic is off the table. What else is there that we would be able to trade with them?”

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out Fiery, but right now I think we have more important issues at hoof.”

“Like what?”

A large grin grew on Celestia’s face. “Well the wedding of course!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shortly after their initial conversation had ended, Celestia had summoned Luna and Starry so that they could go over what was needed, as well as forcing Fiery to stay for his opinion. It wasn’t until several hours that Fiery could escape when Luna needed to raise the moon. He crawled out of Celestia’s study on his stomach in a comedic way to indicate the ‘torture’ he had endured. Celestia and Starry, of course, did not find this amusing.

After Fiery had left, Celestia turned to Starry and spoke. “Well, everything is going according to plan.”

“Yes, but I just wish my son didn’t act like it’s so bad, especially since it’s to a mare he deeply loves. But… I suppose I can understand why he’s so frustrated about it.”

“Ms. Pie?” Celestia asked, and Starry nodded, causing Celestia to sigh.

“It’s pretty obvious he loves her more than Luna, though probably not by much.”

“Maybe Starry, but this treaty wouldn’t exactly hold if he didn’t marry Luna, her being a leader of the state and all. It’s also not possible for me to suddenly make Ms. Pie a princess, or even nobility, not unless we want to receive all kinds of backlashes from the other nobles and even the entire country.”

“Indeed, at least we can explain the reason of the marriage to Luna to the country without the revealing of Earth, but to make Octavia a princess, and then marry her off to Fiery would probably raise a lot more eyebrows.”

“Agreed. But speaking of which, are she and the others still here?”

Starry shook her head. “Twilight Sparkle an Frostbite did, but Octavia went back home after I told her of the plan, and that we would be keeping Fiery here until the marriage and the treaty could all be sorted out. She did say though that she wished to come back tomorrow with Ms. Scratch, to at least see the children and possibly even stay here until the marriage as well.”

“Very well, I’ll allow that. It’s the least I can do for putting her through so much already. Luna might not like it, but I’ll send out a letter tonight and inform the chariots tonight as well.”

Starry nodded and continued. “Alright. Ms. Sparkle and the human decided to stay behind because she wanted to see her parents. They’re staying in Ms. Sparkle’s old room.”

“Very well then, but I suppose we should have some food brought to us for dinner? I haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”

Just then, a growl had come from Celestia’s stomach, calling out for nourishment. Starry giggled a bit while Celestia blushed. “I see that Celly.”

“I-It’s not my fault!”

Starry continued to giggle at her friend as Celestia became redder before the two finally decided to have dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Instead of having dinner himself, all Fiery could think of was if he could get back home before it was so late that neither Octavia or Vinyl would be up. He then started to wonder if Octavia had even gone back home, or if she was still in the castle somewhere. He thought about going to see the children, but finally decided against it as he didn’t know how to tell them of the circumstances.

He knew that what they needed wasn’t a fancy place to live with maids and butlers doing even the smallest of things, but that they needed loving parents who would always be with them, and he was already robbing them of that pleasure for far too long. Telling them the truth would probably crush Bramble’s heart, and knew he could never do that to that small child.

Finally his mindless walking had gotten him out to the chariot landing pads by accident, where he saw Captain Rainbow Flourish watching the skies for pegasi who were not doing their jobs. ‘Perfect.’ He thought as he started to walk over to her. He put on a large smile and spoke in a happy tone. “Why hello there Captain Flourish, so good to see you again.”

“I’m not allowed to take you anywhere Mr. Embers. Princess Celestia’s orders.” She answered as she continued to watch the skies.

“O-Oh come on! I just want to go home to pick-up some things! Can’t you at least do that much?”

“Sorry Mr. Embers, but orders are orders. Besides, it’s too dark at the moment to do any flying.”

“What? It’s not that dark!” Fiery stated, and then pointed to the sky. Indeed, the moon was out and shining brightly as the clouds were out of the way of it that you could easily see the path from the palace to Ponyville. “Besides, you had flown back here with your team after you dropped me off at Fleur’s and you seem just fine, and that night was so much worse.”

Captain Flourish sighed and turned to Fiery. “Look, I’m sorry Mr. Embers, but as I said, orders are orders. Perhaps if you ask nicely, Princess Celestia will allow it tomorrow, but for now-“

“Orders are orders, yeah yeah, no need to repeat yourself so much.” Fiery stated as he started to grumble under his breath. ‘Well there goes any chance of seeing ‘Tavi, getting any cigs or my guitar…’

He sighed once more and began to go back to the palace as Captain Flourish went back to watching the skies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Fiery was walking through the halls once more, he ended up bumping into another pony, head first. When he was able to finally see again after the initial hitting of heads with the pony, he was able to see Frostbite laying there on the floor, rubbing his head as well. “Pat? What are you doing here?”

Frostbite had stopped rubbing his head and was able to look up to see his friend and smiled. “Hey Jojo, just wandering around the palace and all, that’s all.”

“Well I can obviously see that, but I’m asking why. Didn’t you go back home?” Fiery asked as he put a hoof out for his friend to grab.

Frostbite took Fiery’s offer and grabbed his hoof to help himself up as he answered. “Well, if I went back home, how in the world would I be here?” He said as he chuckled a bit.

Fiery rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do. Anyways, to answer your question, Twilight wanted to go see her parents, and because she’s my ride home…”

“I think the chariots would be more than willing to take you home Pat.”

Frostbite shrugged his shoulders in response. “Meh, I think it’s more polite to go home with the lady you came here with, right?”

Again, Fiery rolled his eyes. “I guess…”

“So anyways Jojo, what happened with you and the princesses?”

“Ehh… Nothing much.”

“Come on Jojo, what happened.” Frostbite asked in a more pleading manner this time.

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you… We went to go see the President…”

Frostbite stood there, completely silent and shocked at what Fiery had just said. After a few moments, he was finally able to snap out of his shock and speak. “Excuse me?”

Fiery sighed and said it again. “We went to go see the President, talking about a peace treaty and such.”

“T-T-The President?!”

“See, this is why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Jo! This is the most frieken powerful man on Earth we’re talking about, and yet you’re acting as though it’s the most normal thing in the world!”

“That’s because I’m trying to forget about the meeting!”

“Why?! Why w-“

“Just shut up, alright?! I don’t want to speak of this ever again!” Fiery shouted, and Frostbite became quiet, as he could see the anger coming from his friend quite easily.

“A-Alright man, I’ll be quiet about it… But can I at least ask you about the peace treaty?” Frostbite asked timidly.

Fiery sighed. “Let’s go out for a drink Pat.”

“What? Right now?”

“Yeah, right now. The beer here in the palace tastes like shit, so I want to go someplace where it doesn’t taste like piss water.”

“How can it taste-“

“Just shut up and follow me. If I’m going to tell you about the treaty I want to at least be liquored up by something that doesn’t-“

“Taste like piss water?” Frostbite asked with a smile, which Fiery replied with an annoyed face. “Alright then, what are we waiting for?”

“Alright then.” Fiery said and nodded as he began to walk the way to the entrance of the palace with Frostbite behind him.

As the two reached the palace entrance, the guards stationed there had blocked the way for the two, and before he had a chance to ask, Fiery’s question was answered. “Sorry Mr. Embers-“ One of the guards spoke. “But Princess Celestia requested that you don’t leave the palace grounds.”

“What?! Why the hell can’t I leave?!”

“Sorry sir, but Princess Celestia told us that if you tried to leave, we would be allowed to use force if necessary. As to why, she only told us to stop you, nothing more.”

Fiery was just about at his bursting point as his mane began to smoke from anger, alerting his friend. “Uhh, Jojo? Your mane is smoking.”

But Fiery hadn’t heard his friend as he began to mumble under his breath. “First no going home, then no going out to get some beer…” He then looked up at the sky and yelled. “Just how much more happiness are you going to take from me Celestia?!”

As Fiery was huffing with anger, Frostbite spoke up, trying to calm his friend. “… Come on Jojo. I know it’s upsetting, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Let’s just go before you do something you regret. Oh hey, your mane stopped smoking.”

Fiery sighed and began to walk back to the palace, head down. Frostbite followed his friend, but before he could continue to talk, Fiery had spoken up. “Why did this have to be such a shitty day? All I ask for is to see ‘Tavi, or to pluck my guitar, or smoke… Can’t even get a damn decent beer.”

“You’re taking this all exceptionally well.”

“Yeah, well, what difference will it make Pat? Either way, I’m still not going to see ‘Tavi, or have my beer, or my guitar… All because of that stupid wedding…”

“You mean the political marriage?” Frostbite asked.

Fiery looked up from the ground and at Frostbite, confused. “How do you-“

“Your… mom, I guess. Still not used to that. So weird… Anyways, she told us about how you were going to Earth to speak to someone about a political marriage… I guess this marriage is the peace treaty then?”

“Bingo.”

“Huh… Never would’ve guessed you were going to see the President of the United States to talk about a peace treaty in the form of a marriage.”

“Yeah well, I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Fiery told his friend, and Frostbite agreed.

“Alright man, but I’m here if you need somebody to talk to.”

Fiery looked at Frostbite and smiled. “Thanks Pat.”

Frostbite smiled back and nodded. “Sure man, no problem.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because there was nothing that he could do that evening, Fiery had decided he wanted to go to bed, completely forgetting about dinner. Frostbite understood and walked back to his own room where Twilight would most likely be, while Fiery went back to Luna’s room.

On his way back to the room, Fiery began to think about what life would be like if he did marry Luna. The responsibilities he would be given, the actual time he would probably be allowed to spend with Luna, what it would be like not being able to be with the other girls…

The more he thought about it, the more Fiery became depressed about it. He knew he wasn’t ready, but there was nothing he could do about it.

When Fiery finally reached the room, he immediately went to bed. As he got into bed though, he was unable to sleep, so he decided to get up and walk over to the balcony, where he would be lost in thought.

While he thought, Fiery recognized a certain silhouette against the moonlight, and as it closer, he forced a smile as the pony landed next to him. “Back so soon from your rounds?”

Luna smiled back at him and nodded. “Yes, not a lot going on.” She answered him, then finally noticed his body language, indicating that he was feeling uncomfortable about something. “Something the matter?”

“Hmm?” Fiery tried feigning ignorance, but it hadn’t worked.

“Well, it just seems you’re tense about something, that’s all. Is it the marriage?”

Fiery sighed and answered her while looking out at the moon. “Are we really ready for this Luna?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I mean what’ll happen after we get married? What then?”

Luna stayed silent for a few seconds before answering him. “You’re talking about the other girls, aren’t you?” She asked as she looked at him with sad eyes.

Fiery looked at her and saw the sadness, and began to stammer, unsure of what to say. “W-Well, I-I mean… H-How did-“

“I’m not stupid Fiery.” Luna replied in a monotone voice, but then became more concerned. “Fiery, let me ask you this… Do you love one of them more than me?”

“O-Of course not! Whatever gave you that silly idea?” He asked as he put on a large smile and shifted his eyes, trying his best not to look into hers.

Luna picked up on his lie and began to glare at him. “Fiery…”

“W-What?”

“Don’t lie to me Fiery.” She told him as she began to look at him harder, making him feel even more uncomfortable.

Finally Fiery gave up and sighed. “Fine Luna, you caught me. Yes, I do love ‘Tavi more than you, but I also don’t like the idea of marriage.”

“But you understand why you have to do it, right? I might not be able to change your feelings towards Octavia, but the least you can do is at least try to love me more.”

“I-I know, but why can’t somepony like Patrick do it instead? I mean, he’s actually a human, so wouldn’t it-“

“Because I’m not marrying somepony I have no clue about and haven’t spent nearly 22 years of my life getting to know and falling in love with!” She answered him as she poked his chest with each word with her hoof. “Got it?” Fiery began to nod furiously after she asked him, causing her to smile. “Good. Now I’m going to go eat dinner since I haven’t eaten anything since Tia made me wake up this morning.”

“Shoot! I knew I was missing something today.” Fiery exclaimed as he stomach began to rumble, causing Luna to giggle.

“Tell you what Fiery, how about we have the food brought to us instead, hmm? That way, we can at least spend some more time together in private.” Fiery smiled and nodded in response. “Good. I’ll go and have the guards tell the chefs. Do you want anything in particular?”

Fiery began tapping his chin in thought, then came up with a solution. “How about pizza?”

“Pizza?” Luna asked in bewilderment.

“Yeah, haven’t you ever heard of it before? I mean, granted it won’t have any meat on it being the whole vegetarian thing and all.”

“Well, yes, I have heard of it, but… I’ve never really had it…”

“Really? Well you’re missing out on something special.”

“Do… Do you think the chefs would be willing to make something like that so late?”

Fiery looked at Luna, clearly confused. “Don’t know why you’re asking me, but I think they’d do it if the Princess of the Night asked them to do it.”

“Oh… Right…” An hour later, the two had gotten a freshly baked vegetarian pizza brought to the room and ate together before Fiery fell asleep after being exhausted from the long day. As Luna watched Fiery closely, she began to remember the days of when he was younger. She remembered the days where they laughed and played together, and day by day, she fell more and more in love with him and was excited for the day they would get married.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry for the chapter being so short guys, but have had a lot of things going on the past week, and tried to type as much as possible but couldn’t think of things to write for this chapter. Hopefully next chapter will be longer. Until next time.
It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear. - CrADHD