At twelve noon precisely, the Friendship Express steam train pulled in on time to the Fillydelphia Central Station. Brightstar eagerly watched the splendid engine gradually slow and eventually stop. On the platform, the sharply dressed unicorn smiled as the locomotive blew off steam before the carriage doors were allowed to open. Though he had greeted his friends off the train many times, today was different. Today was special.

As he swiped an imaginary mote of dust from his immaculate Shadowbolt dress uniform and smoothed out a wrinkle that wasn’t there, the royal blue stallion reflected on what made today special. Not only was he getting married, griffon-style, so blood bonded, to his fiancé Moonbeak, his mother was able to attend the ceremony!

Brightstar rocked eagerly on his hooves, only just resisting the urge to tear open the train carriage doors himself and get her out, he could barely believe his mother had been cleared by the asylum in Canterlot to attend, let alone that she had made the almost two thousand mile trip.

His mother was here!

At last, the doors on the multi-coloured carriages opened up. A throng of commuters swarmed from the other cars first. Ponies of all tribes, griffons, hippogriffs, even a dragon and a kirin of all things left the train and, after milling around on the platform for a moment, eventually left that as well, leaving Brightstar stood alone. Not that he minded. He had spoken to his mother’s nurse on the train. She had informed him that she would hold his mother back until the masses had left.

Just in case.

The unicorn couldn’t help but snicker. His mother, who was certifiably insane and suffering from multiple personality disorder, had been Princess Platinum on the train. ‘Just in case’, was in case she was now the Empress of Blood. That persona didn’t do well with a crowd of ponies. As it was, he needn’t have worried. The nurse alighted the train first. Wearing her trademark simple tan brown cloak and hood, Brightstar saw she was in the role of Clover the Clever. “Greetings, Captain Brightstar, may I present Her Highness, the Princess Platinum.”

If the nurse was Clover the Clever, then that meant his mother was…completely and utterly resplendent, was how Brightstar silently described the image that walked regally towards him. From the deep purple of the robes with their white trim to the silver of the crown and horseshoes she wore, Shining Star was every bit the Princess. With all the bearing of her station, she held up her hoof a little for him to kiss.

As he bowed respectfully and kissed the Princess’s offered hoof, Brightstar really had to wrack his brains to remember his Old Ponish. Gifted with languages as he was – just like his sister – a thousand year old language was nonetheless hard! “Humble greetings, your majesty. I hope you had a pleasant journey?”

“My Chamberlin, Clover, saw to excellent service.” Princess Platinum indicated her attendant with a wave of her hoof and the nurse made a small bow of gratitude to be acknowledged for her service. “It seems that the railroads have come a long ways. You are to be wed today, yes, Captain Brightstar?”

Brightstar gave ‘Clover’ a slight nod of his head that spoke volumes and he addressed his mother with as warm a smile as he could manage. It threatened to eclipse the sun itself. “That is right, your majesty, I am to be married to Moonbeak, a most beautiful griffon. You honour us with your presence this day.”

“I was intrigued when I found a unicorn was marring a griffon.” Princess Platinum beamed a smile that matched the young stallion stood before her. She could place a hoof on it or explain why she felt like she did, but she felt a surge of affection for him. “I believe it shows the true diversity of our tribe, to marry outside the pony kind.”

Very quickly, in his head, Brightstar ran his Equestrian history class back. He was grateful he had paid attention to Last Legacy’s lectures. He knew that the griffon wars hadn't happened yet, and that Queen Stormclaw had just married King Grover. “You are quite right, Your Highness…” he paused when the nurse, stood behind Shining Star, made a 'get on with it' motion with her hoof where only Brightstar could see.

Nodding slightly to the nurse, Brightstar stood aside and, with a sweep of his hoof, he indicated the rented carriage awaited its prestigious traveller. Very grand and ornate, it was decorated in a style reminiscent of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s carriage from her coronation almost three decades ago. It was theirs for the day, and worth every bit it had cost. “If you'd like to walk this way, Your Highness, your carriage awaits.”

“Finally!” Air Raid sighed with relief as she watched Brightstar lead his mother and her nurse off of the platform and to the opulent carriage. They – Cyclone, Darkstar and herself – had been instructed by Brightstar and the nurse to hang back while they greeted Shining Star. Thankfully the train driver and guard were very understanding and didn’t throw them off. “Okay,” the lime green mare checked her messages, “Bright just texted me, there should be a limo for all of us.” She said, leading the way from the train, she quickly saw what she was looking for. “Oh, that stallion is holding a sign with your name Darkie. Let's go!”

“Ugh, at last we can get off that blasted train!” Darkstar was eager to get off the train and out of the carriage’s confines. Not that the mentally troubled mare was claustrophobic or anything, but the long journey had made her antsy.

In stark contrast to her friend’s openly sour mood, Cyclone giggled and stretched her legs and wings on the now empty platform. “Still grumpy are we, Darkie?”

“Hush Cy,” Air Raid snapped before ‘grumpy’ Darkstar could have a chance to retort and possibly end or severely affect their friendship, fraught though it already was. “It was a long ride and we were all cooped up together.” Taking a deep breath, she addressed the impassive stallion. “Greetings Sir,” she checked his nametag, which read, Lighthoof, “party of three for the Brightstar / Moonbeak wedding?”

As Lighthoof confirmed that they were who they said they were, checking their names and ID’s off on his clipboard, the stallion lead them to the stretched white limousine. While not a Princess’s carriage, it was nonetheless a grand ride. Walking alongside her carer, Darkstar took several deep breaths of the coastal fresh air. She was grateful of the high strength meds she was taking, for they kept ‘Darkie’ under wraps.

“Feel free to make use of any of the amenities in the back, ladies.” Lighthoof held the door open and bowed pleasantly to each of the mares as they entered.

Cyclone, exuberant as ever, hopped in the back of the limo and flopped down on the very comfy seat while Darkstar, who was far meeker thanks to her medication, entered ahead of Air Raid. “Damn, Raid, that's good!”

“You want juice and soda water, Darkie?” Air Raid asked once they were all seated and Lighthoof had closed the door behind them. “They have orange and apple. What about you Cy?” conspicuously, the lime green pegasus was keen to keep the alcohol in the mini bar under wraps.

About to ask for a wine, Cyclone quickly remembered Air Raid's standing rules. Alcohol and Darkstar’s new high strength medication just didn’t mix. That, and the jet black mare had no stomach for a fight. She and Air Raid had only recently stopped being marefriends – thanks in no small part to the racer’s guilt over Wildfire’s disappearance and Slingshot’s departure from their group of friends. Despite their split, they were still doing the age play, something the nappy wearing mare was glad of. “Glass of orange juice, please, Raid.”

Since Darkstar pointedly didn't answer, Air Raid, in an attempt to ignore the whole load of underlying tensions in the limo and just enjoy the day, poured the white unicorn an orange juice and soda water, an orange juice for Cy, and an apple and soda water for herself. Forcing a smile in place, she lifted up her glass. “We've made it this far. To Brightstar and his wedding.”

Lifting up her glass, Darkstar managed a thin smile and said, “We survived Cy stinking out the train cabin last night. To Brightstar and his wedding.”

Recalling the very spicy food from the dining car going through her last night on the train, Cyclone thought better of arguing with her old friend and, blushing instead, raised her glass. “To Brightstar and his wedding.”

As she drank and giggled at the same time, it was a miracle that Air Raid didn’t choke. “I did think to open the window before I changed her.”

“It was a miracle she didn't melt the glass in the window...” Darkstar nonchalantly commented, sipping her juice as the very smooth limo glided along the Fillydelphia streets. Through the tinted windows she could see ponies on the street stopping in their business to openly stare at them as they passed.

“Oh come on, guys, it wasn't that bad...” Cyclone then noticed the incredulous looks on the other two's faces and the black pegasus gave up on her somewhat futile defence. “Okay,” she conceded, sipping her drink, “it really was that bad.”

Snorting her drink, Air Raid laughed, a rare sound these days. “Well, I guess it was better on the train than at the wedding.”

If Air Raid’s laughter was a rare event, the Darkstar laughing was unheard of. But, laugh she did, the pure white unicorn was laughing so hard her shoulders were shaking. “Yeah, good thing too, or Cy'd be responsible for a mass gassing!”

“Hey, I'm not starting a third griffon war!” Cyclone didn’t want to take exception to the teasing and the ribbing. She knew it was all meant in good fun and so she laughed along with the others, it's been a good long time since they'd properly laughed together like that. “So, Raid,” she said after eventually draining her glass, “do you know anything about the place we're going to?”

Air Raid shook her head, now that she thought about it. “I've been to Filly a few times, and not to site see. Bright just said it’s a griffon restaurant.” She leered at her ex-marefriend as the limo wound its way through Fillydelphia and over the Delamare river to the high end griffon restaurant, “Maybe there’s pony on the menu?”

“I don't mind being eaten…” Cyclone shot back, laughing even harder when she saw Darkstar make up her own dirty joke on the spot and they both fell about laughing in the back of the limo.

Airily, Air Raid waved a hoof dismissively, “No point in making sure you're dry then.”

While Darkstar was still laughing and trying very hard not to spit her soda everywhere, Cyclone gave the older pegasus her best pout and said, “Could you check, just to make sure?” Unfortunately though, for her anyway, Air Raid did not check on her. Instead, she took their respective dresses out of her bags and they began to get dressed for the wedding in the back of the car.

Once they were all ready, each of them wearing a simple but well made cream dress with grey, white and blue accents and accessories, Air Raid looked out of the tinted windows at the restaurant. “Apparently, it’s a five star griffon restaurant,” she looked it over. Called Lavkalavka, it may have been five stars here, but in Canterlot, it would be lucky to get two. “It does serve meat, but no pony for eating. Sorry Cy, but I'm sure some griff would be willing to beak you.”

Silently, Cyclone kicked herself. Not for the first time, she had to remind herself that they weren’t dating anymore. Like Air Raid, she looked out the window and whistled appreciatively. The restaurant was just like a Griffonstone house – she had seen pictures of the eyries that Brightstar had shown her after he had spent the year at Stormclaw Academy - only way bigger. There was even a replica of the archway into Griffonstone outside the main entrance. “Not bad at all.”

As they got out of the limo, assisted once again by Lighthoof, the three mares were greeted at the door of the restaurant by Forge and Selene, the old earth pony stallion and griffon respectively dressed in a black suit and blood red dress. Like Selene had said, a black dress would have been lost on her, as she was black all over.

Having been given their seating assignments, they walked inside. The first thing that hit Darkstar was the permanent coppery tang of blood that hung in the air like a miasma. It stung the back of her nose and almost made her pass out on the spot. “Oh...oh wow!”

“Place looks like a Ponywood horror flick!” Air Raid exclaimed once they took their reserved seats at an empty table, while not squeamish in the slightest, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that at any moment a deranged monster in a mask made of skin was going to burst out and butcher them all.

Nervously, Cyclone looked around at the chimera, manticore and hydra skins that hung on the walls. In morbid fascination her gaze lingered on what were obviously pony hides that hung as wall decorations between the other creatures’ skins, as well as the various skulls hanging as chandeliers above the tables. “Um…those hides…those are all real, aren't they?”

Air Raid shrugged, “Maybe…” she then saw Darkstar’s flinching reaction to their current environment and hastily added, “but I doubt it.”

Taking her seating pad next to Air Raid and Cyclone, Darkstar shuddered. Every time she inhaled, even through her mouth, she was reminded of the day she was attacked, as well as all the times she had hurt herself. “I think this place would be amazing for Nightmare Night.”

Just as Air Raid was about to comment that Brightstar's kittens, Athena and Zephyr, must love this place, Blossomseed was at their table. Having ‘entertained’ Brass Knuckles and Liara, Forge’s marefriend and long-time submissive decided to leave the two minotaurs and she greeted the newcomers with a hyper cheerful, “Hi!”

Without hesitation, Cyclone immediately bumped hooves with the pleasant young earth pony. “Hi, I'm Cyclone.”

“Blossomseed!” she introduced herself like it was a statement of intent as she moved onto extend her hoof to the white unicorn pony sat next to Cyclone.

“Darkstar,” quietly, the troubled mare extended her hoof for a bump, bringing it back so quick it was like she had been burned, “pleased to meet you, Blossomseed.”

Air Raid was ready for her when Blossomseed came to her. As she bumped hooves with the cheery earth pony, her heart was breaking in her chest. The green mare may not have had wings, but the way she acted and carried herself, she was a dead ringer for Wildfire. Only because she had a year’s practise did she keep her smile in place. “You're a friend of Bright's?”

Since racing was not Forge's thing, Blossomseed didn't have a clue as to what Air Raid did. Now, had she been a cage fighter, then it would’ve been a different story. “Forge and I are,” she explained, that smile still on her face, “We hang out at the same bar across town.”

“The Twisted Tail, right? Bright's mentioned it and you a few times.”

“Wow!” Blossomseed clapped her hooves together like an overgrown filly, “Wow! That is so cool!”

It was then, looking around the restaurant’s interior one more time, that Cyclone noted the head table. The jet black pegasus had to smile. Shining Star and her nurse, as Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever, were holding court with Astraea and both kittens. If she were to guess, she’d have said the older griffon was loving being with her friend’s mother.

The other three tables were all fully occupied, two by six griffons sat at each and the last one with four ponies and two minotaurs. Cyclone snickered to herself as they all chatted amongst themselves and drinking – she was sure the griffon’s red liquid wasn’t wine – all that was missing was a dragon or two. “Wow...look at everycreature!” she then giggled and nudged Darkstar, “I see the Princess is having fun!”

“Hmmm…” Darkstar forced a smile up onto her face, “With Moonbeak's mother I don't know who's leading who, exactly.” Though she had never met Moonbeak’s mother, she had spoken to her on the phone a couple times, so she knew full well she was a mischievous old griffon.

“I bet Astraea has a position in the Princess's court before the wedding's over,” Cyclone giggled.

Air Raid sniffed as waiting staff provided them with strange alcohol free pony drinks and the rest of the guests with more of the suspiciously red wine. “I’m not taking that bet.”

“That’s your mom, right Darkstar?” Blossomseed spoke up. Unlike the others at the table, she did have the blood wine. “Your brother said she is interesting, but that I shouldn't go and bother her.”

Darkstar, just getting accustomed to the coppery tang of blood in the air had to adjust all over again when the waiter served up fresh blood wine at the table. She didn’t like it. It was waking Darkie up from her medication induced sleep. “Yes she is, our mother is very...interesting.” she sighed, for it wasn’t this mare’s fault. “She has a personality disorder. Right now, she thinks she's Princess Platinum.”

“Oh, wow,” Blossomseed accepted the abridged explanation, “she is a really good actress, isn’t she?”

“That she is.” Air Raid found if she kept her light beer near her nose it masked the blood scent.

“You're right, Blossomseed,” Cyclone, noticing Darkstar's rather sour look, decided to forge ahead before the white unicorn could say anything. Mercifully, the Fillydelphian hadn’t mentioned her friend’s broken horn. “What do you do here in Filly?”

“I'm a flower seller!” though her voice was as eager as ever, now there was a sense of pride to her. “I have a store over the river next to Forge's smithy. What about you?”

“I ah...” Cyclone squirmed, the jet black mare not wanting to go into all the details of her past and work history, abridged it a little, “I work in the weather factory up in Cloudsdale.”

Air Raid spoke up next, “I'm a race car driver. Rally cross mostly, though I do rally and stadium racing as well.”

Darkstar shrugged, “I don't do anything at the moment, though I trained as a dancer.” ‘Anything but be a burden on my friends’ was what she wanted to say, but even Darkie in her head knew not to ruin this day with one of her moods.

Again, Blossomseed clapped her hooves at both Air Raid and Darkstar. Not so much Cyclone, because she knew nothing about the weather other than rain grew her flowers. “That's so cool you guys!” she exclaimed with a giggle, “I try to dance, but I’m a bit clumsy and I trip over my own hooves.”

Once all the guests that were going to turn up had turned up, Forge and Selene left their posts at the door and joined Air Raid’s table. Forge wasted no time at all in snogging the face off his pet, Blossomseed’s collar at last making sense to Air Raid, Darkstar and Cyclone. Selene waved a claw in greeting, “Moonbeak wants me to make sure the others know you're all off the menu.” Forge paused in his kissing just long enough to give Selene a good eye roll.

“Hey, miss,” Cyclone said to Selene, “Those skins and hides on the wall, are they real?”

“Most are,” Selene was in two minds about lying and having some fun, but then she took note of the fact that this pegasus was quite cute, for a pony. “The chimera, hydra, and manticore ones are, for sure. The pony ones are fakes, just there to add flavour and atmosphere.”

“Really?” Cyclone looked around and above their heads. Anywhere really, than at the rather pretty looking black griffon sat opposite her at the table. “And the ah...um...pony skull chandelier?”

Darkstar though stymied any further chance for her friend to flirt. She knew precisely what she was doing. It was a friend’s duty, after all. “Cy, chill out. You won't join the décor...or will you?” she snickered at her squeamish friend’s face. That was the look she was going for. It made Darkie happy.

“I think she wants to drink from one of the skulls…” Air Raid laughed, happily joining in the teasing. It felt almost like old times.

Thankfully, to spare her any further blushes, Brightstar came out from the restaurant’s back room and he went around all the tables, taking the time to meet, greet and mingle with all the guests. Presently, he came to their table and Darkstar was the first to get up and nuzzle her brother in his magnificent Shadowbolt dress uniform. “Looking good, Bright!”

For a few moments, Brightstar was content to nuzzle his sister. “Thanks sis, I'm happy to see you. How...How are you doing?”

“Today's a good day,” Darkstar smiled and she tapped the side of her head with a hoof, the simple gesture holding a lot of significance. “The meds have her under control.”

“Good days, no great days, then no terrible days either,” Air Raid interjected. Over the past year, she had seen and lived through every kind of day imaginable, even the really, really bad days. “You do look sharp in that uniform.” It was a good thing she was gay, otherwise she’d jump him herself wearing that.

“Not as sharp as Moony's claws though, huh?” Cyclone recovered her voice long enough to rib Air Raid, for she knew Moonbeak had spanked the lime green mare on more than one occasion over the past year. It was fun to watch, once you got over the blood.

Grinning at Cyclone, Brightstar nodded to Air Raid. “I can honestly say you're right, Cy. Her claws are a whole other world of sharp.”

Clearing her throat, Air Raid lifted up her glass like she had done back in the limo. “You're the first of the old gang to get hitched, so do it right as an example for the rest of us.”

Almost glowing with pride, Brightstar had to try very hard to not address the three missing elephants in the room, namely the absent Wildfire, Dusk Melody and Slingshot. It was a happy day after all, one to look forwards, not back. No matter how painful it may be. “One of us has to be sensible, right featherbrain?”

Mistakenly, Cyclone thought Brightstar was talking to her. “I can be sensible...” she giggled, realising her error, “Maybe not.”

Air Raid snorted, “I'm all for sensibling a hoof right up your arse, Bright.”

Snickering, Brightstar gave his close friend a playful wink. “It struck him in that moment just how far they had come in the past year. It only felt like yesterday that he was telling Air Raid and Slingshot he was staying behind in Fillydelphia, only yesterday he had met Moonbeak in the Twisted Tail. “You'll have to wait in line. Moony's got first dibs on my arse, Raid.”

Taking a moment’s break from kissing his pet’s lips, Forge snickered at the pony he had come to think of as a son. “I think the bar floor has first dibs on your arse, Brightstar.”

As Blossomseed laughed, Brightstar chuckled at the father figure he saw as his daddy. One drunken night, not long ago, he had confessed as much to Forge. They never spoke of it again, but each stallion could tell in the eye of the other the bond they now shared. “I think you're right, Forge,” he checked the time, it was almost midday. “Not long now.”

“Nervous?” asked Cyclone.

“A bit, yes…” Brightstar had never wanted or needed his dad there by his side more than in that one moment, but everypony and creature else was there, especially his mother who was holding her court with his soon-to-be mother in law and his kittens, so it was all good.

Selene also saw that the time was at hand. “Do Moony proud, pony.”

Over at her table, Brass Knuckles called out, “Take this one for the win, Bright!”

Liara giggled at her crimson friend and, with a wink, added, “I can be your plan B!”

“I will, Selene, I’ll do her proud.” Brightstar then nodded and walked over to the two minotaurs, leaving the old gang to chat amongst themselves, he hoof bumped each in greeting. While he had to admit Liara was still beautiful, were he ever to replay that disastrous night over the river, he was sure they wouldn’t have enough to bury. “I thank you, Liara, but I think I'll have my hooves full with my plan A.”

Making his last round of the room, the other guests, which included Moonbeak’s regular photography models as well as her friends from the Feathers Whist club, all offered their congratulations, not just to Brightstar but to Moonbeak as well. When he saw Astraea move from the head table to stand at the head of the Griffonstone symbol carved into the restaurant’s wooden floor, he knew that was his cue. ‘Aright...here we go…’ now the moment was upon him, his nerves were unspeakable. He thought of Wildfire in that instant as he stepped up and took his place. ‘Nothing to it, but to do it.’

Just then, the opening bars of Moonbeak’s favourite griffon opera, which sang of Stormclaw and Grover and their binding at the Cliffs of Blood started. Brightstar knew from their practises that he now had to wait a full minute until Moonbeak made her appearance.

As it happened, it was Brightstar’s favourite opera too. He knew the piece like he knew the back of his hoof. The music went a long way to calming his nerves and, with a wide smile on his face, he turned to face the doors to the other back room in the restaurant where he knew his bride would come from, smoothing his uniform of a non-existent wrinkle in the process.

Right on time, just as the clock on the wall began to chime twelve noon, a waiter at the restaurant opened the door and Moonbeak walked out, looking utterly and completely resplendent in her white wedding dress – a gift from Princess Platinum – she walked slowly, covering the distance to stand opposite her intended. As soon as she came to a halt, there was a rather loud greeting screech from the assembled griffons that almost made Cyclone fill her clean nappy.

All of a sudden, this was just another practise. Nothing to worry about. Stood on the left of Astraea, who was conducting the ceremony, Brightstar timed his bow of greeting with the shift in the music. When Moonbeak returned the bow, his heart was still beating three times as fast.

Expectant, Moonbeak stood in front of her lover. The music hit the right spot, and it was time for the vows. Taking his cue, Brightstar cleared his throat. Now was the time. “Moonbeak,” he said clearly, a little too clearly, “I bind my blood to your blood for your blood has given my blood reason to live. You and the kittens have given me reason to step forward to better our lives for your life is my life. I shall be your bound mate until the Grey Spires carry me home.”

Moonbeak’s smile almost split her face. Now he had said his vows, it was her turn. With love and adoration in her eyes, the words came free and easy, they came from her heart. “Brightstar, I bind my blood to your blood, for your blood has given my blood new life. You are not the sire of my kittens, but you are their father. My hope of a future lies in the hopes you have for our future. I shall be your bound mate till the Grey Spires carry me home.”

Astraea couldn’t have been prouder than she was right there in that moment. She knew her role, and she performed it well. “Moonbeak, do you take Brightstar as your bonded mate?”

Moonbeak replied, “I do.”

“Then take his blood.”

As they had practised over and over, the royal blue unicorn held up his left hoof, ready for what he knew was coming. Using the index talon of her left claw, Moonbeak sliced a gash in the sole of his hoof. She then held out that same claw, palm up. “Brightstar,” Astraea continued, “Do you take Moonbeak, as your bonded mate?”

“I do.”

“Then take her blood.” Obediently, Brightstar used the small blade he had concealed blade hidden in the toe of his silver horseshoe to cut Moonbeak's offered palm, a thin line of deep red instantly appearing. The moment Astraea saw the blood appear on both partners, she issued the challenge to the room. “Blood has been taken!”

Athena, about to answer the challenge like they had practised at her treehouse, was joined in her answer by the watching Princess Platinum, who was eager on behalf of her tribe. “Blood has been seen!”

“Let the blood flow between them!” as Astraea said that, the older griffon took the prepared black ribbon from her pocket and wrapped the binding ribbon around Brightstar’s hoof and she drew it to Moonbeak's claw, were she wrapped it around until the juncture between the two of them was hidden, but it wasn't so tight that they couldn’t twist a bit in the binding. “They are now bound and shall remain thus till the rising of the sun. Then the binding will always be in their hearts as long as the blood flows.”

Watching the binding ceremony, Cyclone fainted the moment she saw the blood. She wasn’t the only one. A couple of the photography ponies also found they were suddenly squeamish, much to the amusement of the griffons and the minotaurs. Air Raid did have to comfort Darkstar though, who also hated the blood.

Helpfully, as the music of the griffon opera hit its crescendo, when Astraea bound the bloody claw and hoof together, Selene scooted around the table and bought Cyclone round with beak to mouth resuscitation. Brightstar though, looking at his hoof bound with Moonbeak’s claw, didn’t notice those who had passed out. ‘I've done it!’ he thought with a smile, ‘I’ve done it!’

After the binding ceremony was completed, the short reception at the restaurant was a whirlwind affair, complete with a buffet of griffon and pony foods wheeled out by the waiters. Not all of the attendees would be going with them to Griffonstone, after all.

Brightstar and Moonbeak, now joined together, made their way around the tables, sharing drinks and anecdotes with their friends. Blossomseed, recovered from her queasiness, was feeding her Master, Forge, from her plate. Cyclone and Selene, snuggling together at the table ever since the griffon had bought the pegasus round, were enjoying feeding each other as well. With their mouth and beak.

~ ~ ~

“Hey, Cyclone!” Selene, after boarding the Friendship Express with those few members of the wedding party that would be making the trip to Griffonstone for the celebration there, had managed to work her way through the carriages on her hunt for the black pegasus. She found her prey in the club car at the bar. “I'm the odd griff out, so I have my own stateroom on the train.”

“Oh hey,” Cyclone smiled when she saw whom it was who had caught her. She too was on her own, thanks to Darkstar being in a stormy mood following her brother’s wedding. She had no desire to be caught up in that and so she was nursing a beer. “It’s the sexy griff who bought me round at the wedding!”

“May have been me,” Selene shrugged and, taking up residence next to the young pegasus, got herself a beer. “You're new to the scene so I'm interested.”

Cyclone wondered briefly to what scene the griffon was referring, was it Fillydelphia as a whole? Couldn’t be that, she’d stopped at Moonbeak’s treehouse a few times now. Perhaps it was meeting her? Ultimately she decided it didn’t matter. What mattered was she was single and cute. And Cyclone was horny. “I'm the only other sexy black one here,” she winked, “I wasn't expecting it to be that intense, and well...bloody.”

Sipping her beer, Selene curiously poked at the pegasus’s obviously padded rump, the nappy she was wearing not concealed at all by the dress she wore. “I think you're the only well-padded pony here.”

Giggling, Cyclone wiggled her well-padded rump, the exhibitionist loving the feel of the garment as it squished and moved under her weight. “It’s a necessary accessory, I'm afraid.” She then saw that her new friend had already emptied her glass. “Can I get you another drink?”

Selene wanted that very much. Ever since she had kissed her – delivered emergency resuscitation, but whatever, who was keeping score – in the restaurant, she had been keen to repeat the experience. Sans the passing out, of course. “We can call the steward from my cabin. I tend a bar, so I seldom drink alcohol.”

“I'm up for that,” Cyclone quickly swallowed the beer bottle she had been sipping and, stretching her wings, she hopped off the seating pad in front of the bar. “Sounds like fun!”

“Have you known Bright long?” Selene asked with genuine curiosity as she led the way through the train car to her cabin.

Walking by the black griffon bartender’s side, Cyclone counted off on her primary feathers, “Um, lets’ see now, six, seven...eight, no nine years. We met on the first day of secondary school back in Canterlot.” She smiled at that, the memory was a warm one. One of the few warm memories she’d had over the past year.

“I've only known him for a year,” Selene commented, impressed at the length of Cyclone’s friendship. Nine years was nothing to sniff at, by any means. “That first day when he saw Moony in my bar.” Selene giggled, that time back in the Twisted Tail had been a very memorable one indeed.

Cyclone laughed, “I've heard from the pony's mouth it was a fun night.”

“Do you share Bright's taste in drinks?” asked Selene, thumping open her cabin door with her clawed hand and standing aside to let the admittedly pretty mare enter ahead of her. This wasn’t a wholly magnanimous act, she wanted to enjoy the view.

Walking into the lush finely decorated train cabin, Cyclone was well aware that she was being stared at. She liked being stared at and, accordingly, she made the most of her entrance. She strutted and high-stepped, swaying her padded behind all the way inside the cabin. “I'll take a light beer if you have it, please.”

Once she was inside as well, Selene called the steward from her wall mounted intercom. “Light beer and wine spritzer to cabin five please.”

“Right away, ma'am.” Came a stallion’s voice, presumably the attendant, or guard, or whatever. Selene didn’t much care. For once it was her being served instead of her doing the serving. That was all she cared about. That, and entertaining this pretty little thing in her cabin.

“Thank you, Selene. I don't drink a lot…” Cyclone blushed as she shrugged off her saddlebags and made herself comfortable on the fold down couch that took up the entire left side of the cabin. “One of Bright's whiskeys and I'll be on my back, legs in the air or swinging from the light fittings in the dining car.”

Selene laughed, sitting next to her new companion. “The first option doesn't sound too bad.”

Taking that as a challenge, Cyclone immediately dropped on her back on the very comfortable couch and, pulling up the hem of her dress, she exposed her white nappy and spread her legs. “I don't need alcohol to show off, sexy griffon.” She winked when Selene placed a clawed hand between her legs and checked if she was squishy between her hind legs. Thankfully, the pegasus had managed to just get to the bathroom on time at the restaurant.

Just as Selene confirmed that the nappy was clean, there came a knock on the door. “Enter!” At the griffon’s call, the serving stallion entered with their drinks on a silver tray. Silently he left the beer and wine on the little table and, with a raised eyebrow at Cyclone, left the pair in peace.

The stallion’s reaction to her compromising position made Cyclone swish her turquoise tail and fluff up her wings. By Cadance did she like being looked at! When he closed the door, she had bitten her lip in sheer arousal. She smiled at Selene, “Like what you see, hmm?”

“What I can see, I like.” Selene clarified with a wink as she passed Cyclone her beer. “Now, to see how tipsy that makes you.”

“Why thank you, good lady,” taking the beer in her hoof, the jet black pegasus raised up her beer in a mock salute. “The present is better than the wrapping, I promise you that.”

“That depends on if you're going to leave a present in the wrapping.”

Cyclone liked this griffon. She liked the flirting, she liked how sexy she was, how up for it she was and how unconcerned with her past she was. That suited Cyclone down to the ground. She wasn’t looking for a deep lasting relationship. She was horny and she needed to get off. Seemed this Selene did, too. “Now, that I can’t guarantee either way.”

Taking a long draught of her wine, Selene joined in with Cyclone’s giggles. She really liked this mare. She seemed up for a baggage free fumble, some sexy consenting fun. Just what she was looking for. “I'll just have to spin the wheel and see what I win.”

“I’m like dragon roulette!” Cyclone laughed and, as Selene settled in next to her on the couch and gently pulled her dress up and over her head, the pegasus downed half of beer and snuggled into her companion’s side.

“Ponies are so soft…” Selene purred, nuzzling her beak along Cyclone’s cheek and neck.

“Ever been with one before?” asked Cyclone, the pegasus boldly kissed Selene's beak and cheek. It was a sensation unlike anything else. “I do love your black feathers…”

“The two that sat with us, Forge and Blossomseed,” the bartender confirmed with a nod. “I've tasted Bright's spunk too, more than once, but Moony only shares a bit, and not all the way, either.”

Swallowing the last of her beer, Cyclone asked, “what can those sexy hands of yours do?”

With a predatory glint in her green eyes, Selene wiggled those sexy clawed hands, displaying her razor sharp talons like a butcher showing off a set of steak knives. “These hands? They can rip open a throat, render flesh from bone, and…”

Cyclone was about to ask what the ‘and’ was, when Selene demonstrated what the ‘and’ was by digging her claws into the pegasus’s sides and mercilessly tickling her ribs. The effect of this vicious assault was immediate. “Gaah! Hahahahahahaaa!” she arched her back and squirmed on the couch, though escape was impossible.

Seeing that her prey was incredibly ticklish, Selene was relentless. She continued her assault, her claws dancing all over Cyclone’s twitching writhing body. She was curious, as he enjoyed her squeals of laughter, which would come first. Would she pass out, fill the nappy, or yell out her safe word?

Five minutes later, laughing fit to burst and gasping for air, there came the tell-tale hissing sound that heralded the fact that Cyclone was peeing noisily in her formerly clean nappy. Crying from laughing so hard, she at last used her safe word. Backing off, Selene again pressed her hand on the nappy, this time she was rewarded with a definite soft squish. “What happens if you stay in that for too long?”

“I get a wicked rash and I pout like a mardy filly.”

“Where’s your stuff to change?”

Cyclone pointed a hoof to her saddlebag resting at the side of the couch. “I have supplies in my bag. Always carry at least three, in case of messy emergencies.”

“Good, I'll watch you change yourself. Make it worth my while.”

“I can do that…” In slipping off the nappy, the jet black pegasus slowly removed the tabs and slid it down her front like she was humping the material. She thrust her hips upwards, grinding the wet material into her marehood with her hoof. Once the nappy was off, she applied the talc powder around herself while holding her hind leg in the air. She made that last until Selene had drank the last of her wine.

Watching Cyclone powder herself like she was rubbing herself off, Selene blushed so hard that it showed on her black feathered cheeks. “Oh…oh by the Grey Spires…if you were a foal, I'd be ashamed of myself, because that was totally hot!”

“I sometimes play the foal, but right now…” Cyclone levelled weapons grade bedroom eyes at Selene while her left forehoof caressed her teats and the other hoof circled her moist pussy, “I wanna play with you.”

“Do you now? And how do you plan on going about that?” Selene admired the direct approach. This mare knew what she wanted, and how to get it.

Cyclone’s bedroom eyes smoldered. “Plan A is getting my face under your tail. Plan B is you on your back and I eat you out. Plan C is scissoring you. Plan D is all of the above. That is, if you're up for some soft pony fun?”

Now, it was a well-known fact known well to those who knew it, that griffons never ever back down from a challenge. Selene was all griffon. “What does that powder taste like?”

“A bit like chalk mixed with me, and I'm super sweet.”

Affectionately, Selene leant in and rubbed her beak alongside her soon-to-be lover’s muzzle. “Then, plan C to make you an even sweeter little pony.”

“I’ll go with that,” Cyclone turned her head and gently kissed her way all over Selene’s beak, “I hope you’re ready, cos this storm's gonna blow you away.”

At first, the unashamed pun eluded Selene then, with her eyes wide, she had an 'I get it' moment. Not to be outdone, she countered with, “I hope it's not too late to moon you, then.”

As they got into position, sliding their hind legs in between each other so that their crotches were pressed together, Cyclone added, “Storm warning's out in this cabin!” she decided she’d had enough of the awful puns and took the initiative, grinding herself along the griffon’s mound.

She quickly discovered, apart from the leonine tail, Selene felt pretty much like every other pony she had scissored in the past. “Now for the bump and grind, pony!” the black griffon screeched as she thrusted her strong powerful hips up to meet the mare grinding down on her.

“D-DaaaAAAAH…Damn right!” Cyclone moaned, as she rammed her crotch to the griffon’s. True to her word, she was not at all slow, gentle or subtle or slow. It had been a few weeks since the split with Air Raid, and she needed to get off.

From Selene’s point of view, it hadn’t been that long since she last did this with Blossomseed while Forge had watched, but there was no way she was going to give ground to a soft pony. Like her lover, she thrust back with gusto. In a very sneaky move, she used her paws to play with whatever she could reach.

What she could reach was Cyclone’s teats.

The moment she felt the leathery pads of the griffon’s toes rub her teats and nipples, Cyclone screamed as she came quite hard. “B-Bu-BuuUUUUCK!” she thrust her squirting pussy down and ground it until Selene gave voice to her own orgasm.

“Well,” Selene panted, “Th-That wasn't foalish at all...” she laid back on the couch, thoroughly enjoying her post orgasmic haze. She offered up a silent prayer to Queen Stormclaw in the Grey Spires that she had hooked up with this pretty little pegasus. “Seeing as I’m already on my back, you can move to plan B.”

“You got it!” needing no further encouragement whatsoever, Cyclone slid down and, in one motion, she got her muzzle deep in between Selene's leonine legs. She used her forehooves to spread the griffon’s glistening, dripping wet pussy open and she lapped at her like a dog lapping at a bowl of water.

Selene used her clawed hands to caress Cyclone’s turquoise mane while the black mare got busy swirling her eager tongue deep inside the griffon’s muscular tunnel. She tried to use her hooves to play with her wing joints but unfortunately from her present position, she couldn’t reach.

Instead, Cyclone contented herself with eating Selene out like a pony who hadn’t seen food in a week. She drove her tongue into her again and again as if it was the sweetest of treats, each time savouring her juices that flowed into her mouth by the second.

By the moans and groans the griffon was making, she was doing it right. Determined to make her – however temporary – lover cum, Cyclone switched her attention from her cunny to her clit. Wrapping her lips around it, she sucked hard on Selene’s hard nub.

After the energetic and enthusiastic scissoring, it didn't take long to push Selene over the top for a second climax. As her back arched, the griffon’s claws took hold of the back of the pegasus’s neck. When Cyclone used her teeth and sucked harder, those claws dug in and Selene let loose a loud keening screech of pleasure.

Though she was sure there was a few drops of blood now at the back of her neck, Cyclone didn’t mind. She did wince though when, licking Selene clean, those talons dug in a little deeper. “Mmmm!” pain had never been her thing, but this wasn’t so bad. “Did you enjoy that?”

Selene’s crossed eyes was all the answer she needed. “Blossomseed needs to take lessons from you…” the griffon panted and, after licking her claws clean, she held Cyclone in a tight hug on the couch, happy to enjoy this union as long as it lasted.

~ ~ ~

Getting on the train, Air Raid used her wing to hold the door open for their compartment so Darkstar could walk in first. Since the white unicorn’s mood had changed visibly since the wedding ceremony, the lime green mare had made all haste to get her friend into their cabin ever since the reception had come to an end. She had come to recognise the outward signs of Darkstar’s moods and right then she was firing off warning flares.

Without saying a word, Darkstar made her way to the fold down couch in the train’s compartment and, with a snorted sigh of indifference, the tall slender mare slumped down face first. Though she didn’t say a word, she didn’t have to. Her body language said it all for her. “Before I give you your meds,” Air Raid started matter-of-factly, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Before you send half of us to sleep you mean?” Darkstar’s tone was morose, her mood increasingly maudlin and gloomy. Turning around on the couch, what was left of her horn glowed, however the spell was stopped by the glowing runes of the platinum inhibitor she wore almost all the time now. “You can talk to the husk that's left…” As soon as she said that, the mare whimpered, her head cocked to one side, “Darkie please, Raid's just trying to help us!”

‘Great…so ‘she’ is back, is she?’ Air Raid sighed, resisting the urge to shake her head. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she prepared to deal with Darkie once again. Like she had done ever since she had woke up from her coma. “I know what the meds do, Darkie. So do the both of you. No highs, no lows, just the middle road. Are you upset that Bright married a griff?”

“No!” Darkie snarled, her lips pulled back and her teeth bared, “We aren't upset about that you idiot!” The brief flash of temper made the stump of her horn glow again, only to be stopped yet again by the ring. The fact that she had to wear a level fifteen inhibitor was a testament to just how unstable her magic was.

When she saw her friend begin to sob openly like a foal who had been chastised by their parent, Air Raid placed a hoof on Darkstar’s heaving shoulder. It completely broke her heart to see Darkstar like this, especially as she had helped her get through the early, traumatic months after Wildfire had left. She smiled warmly, because she knew she’d still be a mess without Darkstar’s illusions. “If I take the ring off, you promise you won't blow up the train?”

Darkstar – and Darkie, for that matter – looked up at Air Raid through teary eyes, the tracks of her hot salty tears staining her pure white cheeks. She – they – couldn’t believe what they had heard. “Y-You'd d-do that? But...you aren't allowed…”

Air Raid smiled. The lime green pegasus knew full well she wasn’t allowed to remove the inhibitor when they were out and about. After that one instance where her friend had imploded a taxi, reducing the vehicle to the size of a Rubik’s cube, Darkstar had been deemed a public threat, Air Raid knew the rules. Then again, she had never been one to follow the rules.

“I know, we're traveling, but we can pretend this is our great room.” In their great room back at Air Raid’s villa in Canterlot, a null zone had been established by powerful unicorns from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, creating a safe zone where Darkstar’s unstable magic was dispelled and contained.

Darkstar nodded, her tears slowing into barely controlled sniffles. It wasn’t just the great room. The null zone had been created in her padded bedroom as well, but she was in no mood to be pernickety. “We can pretend, Raid.”

“So…you won't blow up the train?”

To match her sullen and very down mood, Darkstar’s ears were slicked back to her scalp. “No, we promise we won't blow up anything, Raid.”

Satisfied, Air Raid delved into her saddlebag by her side and, once she had found what she was looking for, pulled out a curious little gadget. It had been described to her exactly what it was and what it did, but the doctors had used big words that she didn’t understand. To Air Raid, it was a thingamabob or, if she was being technical, a doohickey. She touched the gadget to the platinum inhibitor and pressed a button. Coded to her hoof, it allowed her to remove the ring. “Talk to me,” she said, setting the gizmo, the ring and her friend’s medication on a small table.

As soon as the inhibitor was removed, Darkstar gasped as her magic, unstable though it was, flooded through her stump of a horn. The concentric ridges glowed with a bright yellow light and an image of Las Pegasus appeared in the cabin. The image was perfect then, with a thought, it zoomed in to Sapphire Shores at the Golden Horseshoe Rooms, and then to a troupe of dancers on a stage. “It was in the paper when we got on the train from Filly.” Darkstar’s voice was monotone, deadened. “The tour's been extended for a third straight time.”

For a moment, Air Raid marveled at the accuracy of the illusion arrayed before her. Every last detail of Las Pegasus seemed perfect, like she was looking at a three-dimensional photograph. The deadened stare from her friend worried her though. “Heh, then there was the time you and Luna tricked your friends into going to Las Pegasus while you danced.”

When she spoke, Darkstar’s voice matched the vacant stare in her yellow eyes. She waved her hoof through the illusionary image, trying to swat the incorporeal dancing ponies in their fancy dresses and ornate headdresses. “That should have been me...us...me!” she screamed, “I...we trained for that! We earned that spot!”

Now, Air Raid wasn’t a psychiatrist, but she fancied she had a handle on what was upsetting her troubled friend. Had she not been attacked all those months ago back in Canterlot, she would’ve been part of the act in Las Pegasus, she would’ve been dancing with Sapphire Shores. “I should be racing, but I'm not. You should be dancing, but you're not.” Air Raid really hoped she was saying the right things. She really wasn’t any good at this sort of stuff. “We can’t have the should have beens. Now we need to get the can haves.”

“Why did you even keep that dress that Rarity made?” asked Darkstar, pointedly not looking away from the image she had created.

“Because I'll never afford to get another one.”

“Because you have to use your money to look after us, you mean.”

Air Raid let out a snort of breath through her nose. “What did I do the last time I was asked to look after somepony who needed me?”

“You were honest,” Darkstar answered, her voice as desolate and devoid of emotion as ever. With a flash of her magic though, the illusion changed. Las Pegasus and the Golden Horseshoe Rooms dissolved, only for the magical power to coalesce into an image of the Canterlot Royal hospital.

As they moved through the halls like they were on a virtual tour of the hospital, Air Raid wanted to look away when they were faced with Wildfire's open door. She didn’t need an illusion to remind her what had happened in that room. She didn’t need a tour of her own personal Tartarus. She shook her head, unable as she was to look away. “I was only honest if I had been living a lie.”

Again, the magic flashed on Darkstar’s horn and the image changed. Wildfire was sat in her bed. The bandages that had been wound around her face fallen limp across her lap. An illusionary Air Raid was backing away in revulsion and the blind mare was silently screaming for her to come back.

Air Raid, like she was watching something unspeakable being done to a kitten, couldn’t look away. She knew she didn’t go back. “You replay this almost every night, Raid.”

“I loved her.” Air Raid said quietly. Darkstar was right. She did torture herself with this dream almost every night. Except, when she replayed it, she went back. She had gone back countless times since Wildfire had left. Countless times she had done it right, countless times, except the one time it mattered. “I really loved her and the only thing I could see was me, me, ME! I was so afraid of what I'd lose, I lost what really mattered.”

“Now she's become your own personal Tantabus…” as she watched her illusion, Darkstar began to falter. She began to lose her focus on the magical creation. As Wildfire screamed, the hospital walls started dripping with blood.

“That's enough!” Air Raid snapped. She didn’t think her friend was doing it on purpose, though. “I know I'm an asshole. That is why I'm not doing this for you.”

“I…I-I'm not...Uuuuugh...” Darkstar was sweating. The amount of concentration required for the spell finally taking its toll. Without warning, she lost it. Unbidden, a stallion’s harsh laughter, an evil sound taken from her most darkest of nightmares, echoed inside the cabin. A second later and the hospital illusion shattered, in its place, the walls of the cabin started bleeding bright red blood, screaming faces leering from the gore. “It's no-not me...”

Watching the horror show, Air Raid wasn’t scared. She had witnessed this more than once before. Once on a picnic, she had turned a clear blue lake into a stinking bloody morass. She had made fields slick with blood and had decorated the trees with decaying crucified corpses that laughed and screamed.

This was nothing.

“What did I give up trying to find Wily?” Air Raid asked, trying to focus her friend’s fractured mind. “Tartarus! What did you give up trying to find her?”

“I'm sorry!” Darkstar screamed, covering her face with her forehooves. No longer ‘in the room’, as it were, the pure white unicorn started crying and rocking on the couch. As her trauma continued, so did the horror. The scent and taste of blood in the air only made the bleeding walls more intense. “Make it stop please!” she begged as faces, accusatory, laughing, leering, faces emerged from the viscera. “We didn't mean to! We were trying to help!”

Recognising that this particular episode was about to swirl out of control, Air Raid quickly draped her foreleg over Darkstar’s shoulder and held her close. “I gave up racing, you gave up even more. I'm not going to toss away what I have for a dream I don't, can’t, possess.”

“Don't hurt me!” Darkstar pleaded with an attacker that only she could see. In her tortured mind she was replaying the last awful seconds before she was knocked out in the back of Cold Front's van. As she tasted the rusted metal in her mouth and smelled the stench of gas, a stallion's cruel mocking laughter reverberated around the cabin. “Please don’t! I won't tell, I swear!”

Just as Air Raid was about to say something, there came a sound straight from the depths of the abyss that made even her spine tingle with dread. It was a laugh, but it was as if several stallions were laughing and talking all at once, each voice overlapping and repeating until they blended into one nightmare voice. “You go to the university right?” the ghastly stallion asked, “Time to teach you a lesson…”

Silently, Air Raid just held her friend tight and tried, without success to block out the evil laughter and the sickening, pitiful screams. Those screams didn’t come from Tartarus, they came from her friend. Somehow though, the presence of Air Raid’s hoof gave her just enough wherewithal to reach out for her medication. With a shaking hoof, Darkstar took the high strength meds and she swallowed the water, crying into Air Raid's shoulder the whole time until the nightmare illusion vanished.

“I'm doing all this for me,” Air Raid didn’t let go of the tight hold she had on her friend, “I don't have many friends left. I don't even know if the pit crew will stay with me. I don't want to lose you too.”

“We...We…I-I'm sorry Raid…” Darkstar whimpered, though thankfully the medication she was prescribed was super effective and they started to work almost straight away. “I don't want to lose you, too!”

Affectionately, Air Raid nuzzled Darkstar’s cheek. “I'm not going to let you lose me by making you stay around. Do you want the ring back on now, or do you want to wait till you're asleep?”

“Please put it back on, I don't know what will come next. I might hurt some creature on the train.”

Now, at last, Air Raid giggled, the tension in the room dissipating as the blood on the walls evaporated into the ether. “I only asked you didn't blow up the train, not me. Still, I'll put it on. Just in case.” Taking up the platinum ring, the lime green mare carefully slid it to the base of what horn she had left. A twist of her hoof secured it in place. “You did okay for being away from home.”

“I...I was a scared terrified filly!” Darkstar’s tone was incredulous, “That was 'doing okay’, was it?”

“You lashed out at me, and that is okay.” Air Raid returned to hugging her friend, taking care to wipe her white cheeks clean and dry of the tears that remained there following her episode. “You took the meds on your own, and that's okay. You still haven't let go of me and that is okay too.”

Listening, Darkstar realised just how ‘okay’ she was. “I don't want to let go of you!” she sobbed, and Air Raid was straight back to gently wiping away her fresh tears. “You might be an illusion and fade away! If I hold you, you're real…” she trailed off to silence mid-sentence and laughed, “That's how mother started...”

“You know, Shining Star is close to hoof now. The nurse seems nice. Nicer than any you've had, and for that I'm so sorry.”

“Jewel Joy wasn't your fault!” Though she was still hugging Air Raid for grim death, Darkstar playfully booped her nose. She hated seeing her friend and carer determined to take responsibility for every last thing. Wildfire, Cyclone, her, the nurse, Air Raid seemed intent on carrying Equestria on her shoulders, no matter how many times she was forgiven. “Her sister, Amethyst Glory, didn't seem very happy with her when she came to collect her after you called the police.”

“After I had the camera evidence instead of just taking you at your word.”

“You needed the evidence, silly filly!”

“Thank you for putting up with me, Darkie.” Air Raid shook her head and smiled sadly, her mind wandering back to before Darkstar’s attack, when she had comforted her over Wildfire’s departure. “Those illusions gave me a reason to live, and now you give me a reason to live.”

Darkstar’s white cheeks turned a faint shade of red. “Oh hush.” She gently nudged the lime green mare’s shoulder. “It's a shame, what happened to Jewel Joy though.”

Sniffing, Air Raid didn’t think it was a shame. Yes, it was sad that she had killed herself – it had been in the newspapers, the police had found her hanging in her living room, a coarse rope around her neck – before she could be bought to trial for her crimes. “Don't think that. If she did her job, it wouldn't have happened. Better her than you, in my opinion.”

“Yeah, she was a bitch alright,” Darkstar smiled a tentative smile and, while she was hugging Air Raid, it wasn’t quite so tight as before.

Air Raid shuffled her hooves a little on the couch, unsure how to proceed. “Um, would you, ah, mind if we just snuggled, for a bit?”

Brightly, Darkstar smiled. Genuinely smiled, for the first time that day. “I'd love to snuggle, Raid.”

“Thanks, Darkie, I don't feel so lonely that way…” Although it wasn’t a long train ride, the two mares spent the rest of the trip entwined in a non-sexual snuggle that both needed.

~ ~ ~

On the platform in Fillydelphia, after the wedding ceremony and the modest reception had come to an end, Moonbeak and Brightstar graciously allowed their honoured guests to get on the waiting Friendship Express ahead of them. Shining Star, who was still in the persona of Princess Platinum, alighted with Clover as ever at her right hoof and, on her left, Astraea as her newly appointed Chief Griffon Ambassador and Supplier of the Royal Cookies, got on with her new best friend. Moonbeak shook her head as her mother winked at her. The dark grey furred griffon wasn’t sure whom was the crazier of the two. Then, with a snickered laugh, she realised she did. There was no competition, really. “On my back, pony. It will be easier.” She said once it was just her and her new husband.

Since her left claw was still tied to his left hoof, and would be until noon the next day, Brightstar had to agree with his wife’s assessment of their current situation. Fortunately, he’d had a little practice at this over the last month and, by now, it was a smooth move as he got up on Moonbeak's back, kissing the side of her head as he did so. “Yes ma'am, Mrs. Star.”

Moonbeak turned her head until she could see her lover in the periphery of her vision. “I’m telling you now, I will not be known as Moonbeak Star.”

Brightstar chuckled at his partner’s deadpan look, though mostly he was amused at the looks on the other travellers’ faces once they were on the train and walking down the aisle to their first class compartment. “Oh? How about Moon Bright Beak instead?”

Walking along, Moonbeak used her leonine tail to swat the unicorn’s behind. “I see somepony doesn't want to wait till we get to the airship…”

“You're right, somepony doesn't,” he leant forwards and he kissed and nuzzled her cheek. Why wait until later when they were here, now, and there was a marriage that needed consummating.

At their compartment, which was a first class state room, across the hall from Shining Star's state room, Moonbeak moved her claw. This had the effect of pulling her pony off her back to the floor and her other free claw was centered on his chest. “Maybe you should be Brightbeak?”

“I can go with that,” right then and there, on his back with her free claw pressing on him, she could call him anything in the world. He reached up and ran his hoof over his mother’s ring hanging from the bonding necklace around Moonbeak's neck. “It has a nice ring to it.”

Drawing her beak back into a smirk, Moonbeak flexed her claw and dug her talons into his chest. “You should be proud of your heritage, as I am of mine.”

“I am. I'm so very proud of my mother for making it here today.”

Moonbeak pulled her claw up to her beak and she licked off the blood on her talons. “No one is changing their name. Your mother was very sweet. However, I cannot say the same for your sister.”

“Darkie...” Brightstar, on his back in the finely appointed cabin, sighed with a bitten lip as the claws were removed from his chest. “You have to understand, Moony, her meds are very strong. I wish you had known her before she was attacked.”

“That is not to be,” Slowly, Moonbeak lowered her head and licked at the small puncture wounds in his chest. “You are a very tasty pony.”

“Yes, I am, Mistress. I'm your tasty pony.”

“Yes, you are,” still holding that superior smirk on her face, Moonbeak walked over to the large luxurious bed – unlike the other cabins, the state rooms had permanent beds, not fold down bunks – and, laying on her back, dragged Brightstar on top of her, wedding dress and Shadowbolt uniform and all. “Now, let’s see if you remember where to hide the ponystick.”

“Only if you remember where to hide your stick later,” the royal blue unicorn shot back and, once he was in position, he thrust his hips forwards, dry humping her by rubbing his sheath over her mound. Loving the way she purred, he repeated this for a couple of thrusts until his stallionhood emerged. Once he was sufficiently erect, he adjusted his position and probed her waiting entrance.

“Good,” Moonbeak smiled and, nuzzling her beak along Brightstar's jawline, she added little nips and licks that draw no blood but they did draw some very cute little whimpers. Brightstar, in position, gave a single thrust of his hips and, in one smooth motion, he hilted inside her, not stopping until his hips touched hers.

As both of them moaned together in unison, Brightstar pulled out only as far as his medial ring and he inserted himself once more, just as one of Moonbeak's clawed hands moved past the unicorn's cutie mark. Gripping tightly, she ‘assisted’ him by pulling him further inside her.

After the first few thrusts, in which time his hard member was glistening with her sopping juices, the stallion got up a steady rhythm - not too hard, not too gentle - just firm enough that Moonbeak knew she was being taken. He wanted this first married lovemaking to be just that. Nothing urgent, or rushed, no fetishes, no kinks, just them together.

Soon though, Moonbeak stopped nuzzling her husband and she was content to just hold her head against his as her second clawed hand gripped his other ass cheek. With each firm but gentle thrust inside her where the head of his cock tapped her cervical wall, her hind paw clawed flexed in and out.

After a few more thrusts, Brightstar had an idea. Reaching for his new wife’s hind legs, he lifted them up and indulged in his absolute favourite thing ever. He placed a paw on each side of his muzzle and, now he could smell them, picked up speed. As she was lost in the moment, Moonbeak's claws kept on flexing, enticing her lover. “MMMmmmm!” he moaned, licking right up the soles of her paws. Reaching the tips of her toes, the unicorn licked each of her toes and, after going a little harder, he came deep inside her with a restrained scream of her name.

As soon as she felt Brightstar shoot his seed deep into her womb, Moonbeak clamped her pussy down on his cock and her claws fully extended into his ass, holding him in place as, with a screech of, “Bright my love!” she rode out her own orgasm. When she squeezed him, Brightstar moaned, sucked hard on both of her big toes and, still ejaculating, he held himself inside her. “This trip has started off with a bang, and…” Moonbeak shook her left claw, “I don't have to worry about losing you.”

“No you don't, my love,” Brightstar, happy to stay hilted inside her until nature separated them, leant forward and lovingly kissed her beak. “I love you, Moony.”

Gazing up at him, her paws still either side of his head, she smiled a smile that radiated from her emerald green eyes, “And I love you too, my little emergency ration.”

“I’m only little when it goes back in its sheath.”

There were giggles in Moonbeak’s voice, “I think you have filled my hunger for now.”

“For now?” Brightstar kissed the tip of her beak and hopefully, he asked, “Did you by any chance bring our favourite toy along with you?”

Seeing the eager look on his face, Moonbeak was again reminded why she loved her strong, energetic, handsome young stallion. He was always ready for round two, or three and sometimes, in rare moments, round four. “Good question. It is in the luggage, but I don't know if that is in here or in the baggage car.”

“Mmmm,” Brightstar glanced around their finely decorated cabin and he couldn’t see the right case. That meant it was in the baggage car. Oh well. There was always later. “The baggage car is soooo far away!” he made a fake pout and smiled, “I can wait till we're on the airship.”

“While we’re waiting for ‘later’,” Moonbeak raised up her eyebrow, “I've been on my paws all day, and they need some of your loving attention…”

“I think they do too,” Smiling broadly, Brightstar got down on his knees on the carpeted floor in front of his lady and, lighting his horn, used his glowing yellow aura to hold and support her paws while he used his free hoof to massage her leathery soles.

Finally, reclining in the state room on the Friendship Express, and with her husband massaging her tired, aching paws, Moonbeak at last allowed herself to truly relax for the first time since the day began. The griffon smiled to herself, because by the Grey Spires, ‘her husband’ felt damn good to say. “The best part of the day is over, now for the in-laws…”

“That's not so bad, my love,” Brightstar countered, his tongue now replacing his hooves as he worshipped the heel and the arches of her paws. There was no way, being this close to them, that he was going to be content with just massaging them.

“Still, I'll be happy when it’s all over and I can get back to Filly,” Moonbeak giggled when she felt her stallion start to sniff her paws. Admittedly, at first, she had found his fetish odd, but now she had gotten used to it, it was heaven. “Compromise, is what I think you ponies call it.”

“Compromise is magic, sweetheart,” Brightstar commented, his muzzle never leaving his wife’s paws. As he was lavishing his attention on them, kissing her soles, sucking her toes and breathing in the heady scent of her musk and sweat he had come to associate with her paws, he was getting hard once more.

While Moonbeak just purred contentedly in response to that, Brightstar began to suck on the very sexy toes of her left paw. “It'll be interesting to see Griffonstone again,” he said, now sucking on the right paw’s toes. “I wonder how long we'll be there before I have to fight an honour duel?”

When Moonbeak spoke next, it was with a very sleepy voice, the mix of the steam train rocking along the track, the wonderful sex and now the most excellent paw worship ever, had her dozing off. “Hopefully not, or at least after the first toast at the reception…”

“I hope not too…” Brightstar agreed, although he knew only too well that Air Raid was as tactful as a manticore in a china shop, Darkstar had her mood swings and then there was Shining Star’s state of mind to take into account. All that added up, he knew there’d be a fallout somewhere. Still, he decided to deal with it when and if it happened. For right then, the royal blue stallion was happy to keep worshipping Moonbeak's paws and toes until she fell right asleep.

~ ~ ~

“Why haven't I flown on one of these before!?” Moonbeak exclaimed once she and Brightstar were stood in their grand state room on the airship, ‘The Pride of the Sky’. Grand was an understatement. The griffon had, admittedly, never been in an equine royal palace, but she guessed this suite was something like it. Dark laquered exposed floorboards set off the lush cream coloured walls. Turquoise drapes hung at the windows and there was even a chandelier! “This is traveling in style!”

“It's my first time too my love, at least on an airship as nice as this.” Looking around, the royal blue stallion, who had actually been in Dusk’s royal suite, had to say he was very impressed indeed. Ornately carved furniture and gold decorations attested to that. “It's not bad, is it?”

Like an overgrown kitten, Moonbeak spent several moments exploring the cabin. ‘Cabin’ was doing it a disservice when it was almost as big as her treehouse. The bed alone looked like six could easily lay on it and have plenty of room. “It seems all of our luggage is here too…” a devious look flashed across her eyes, “Hmm, now what to do, what to do?”

Since he was still bound hoof-to-claw with his wife, Brightstar was dragged along for the brief and excited tour of the opulent state room. In the bedroom with her, he lit his horn and used his magic to unbutton the shirt of his uniform and he winked at her, “I have been a naughty stallion, Mistress Moon Star.”

“An annoying stallion.” Moonbeak stated, rolling her eyes at him in a manner she hoped he could understand. He was, after all, good with languages. “Maybe I'll go and sit on the deck and leave you in here to stew over your misdeeds?”

As it happened, Brightstar did speak ‘eye roll’ and, with his shirt hanging open, he groveled at Moonbeak's claws. “Please don't, Mistress, I'm sorry!” the last thing he wanted, after the romp on the train, he needed to be mounted by his wife.

“Your sorry is sorry, and that is sorry!” Moonbeak giggled, “And I'm not sorry for saying that.” Still on the floor, Brightstar burst out laughing and kissed her clawed hands as if she was a Queen, which she was, to him. “A rather good kisser, for such an annoying pony. I guess I'll keep you. besides, it’s hard to leave you behind when we're still bound together.”

“And I'm your emergency food ration, don't forget,” Brightstar pointed out helpfully as he stood up and put those lips to good use on his lover’s yellow beak.

“Yes, and I must keep you edible. Tell you what, my pony. You may pick one bag to unpack.”

With a very playful twinkle in his yellow eyes, Brightstar levitated over the one bag that he knew was packed with the fun stuff. A non-descript bag, the only clue as to what it held was the collar stitched on the top. “I think...this one, Mistress!” placing it on the luxurious bed, he floated out the grey collar as well as the stallionator, shackles and the sheath lock.

Studiously, Moonbeak looked over the toys. While they were all interesting in their own right, the thing that interested her most at the moment was the large and very accurately molded strap on. “Very interesting choice, pet.” She smiled as she started to undress him and then stopped when she realised she wasn’t going to manage it. “I'm not going to be able to get that shirt and jacket off, so I guess you'll just get all sweaty in them.”

Knowing it wasn’t the sweatiest he's ever been, Brightstar smiled, the stallion virtually bouncing on his hooves at the prospect of being mounted by his lover. “As you wish, Mistress.” He knew as well as she that, bound as they were, neither of them was getting out of clothes that went over a forelimb, for at least twenty four hours, anyway.

“You can still wear this, though.” Moonbeak took up the collar and buckled it securely around her pet’s neck, making sure of course it wasn’t too tight or uncomfortable. “Now for the real challenge. Getting this,” she pointed to the stallionator, “in me to use on you.”

“I believe I can help with that, Mistress!”

Thoughtfully, Moonbeak tapped her chin. While the standing rules was that the collar prevented the use of magic, she couldn’t see any other way they were going to get the toy in her. “I will allow magic, this once, but if you tickle me with magic I'll make you sit in a corner, and I'll sit on you.”

‘Damn...’ Brightstar thought to himself, ‘that does sound like a lot of fun...’ still, as fun as it sounded, he really wanted the griffon’s weight on his back. Now wasn’t the time to be naughty. He concentrated very hard and, lifting up the toy, he levitated the stallionator into his wife’s waiting slit.

While it was unavoidable that she would be tickled to a certain degree, Moonbeak by now from experience knew what her husband’s ‘basic’ aura felt like and she knew when he was tickling her. Rolling onto her back, she displayed herself. “You may now lube it, pet.”

“Yes Mistress,” his horn still lit, the unicorn floated over the blueberry lube from the case and he squirted a load into his mouth. Looking his Mistress in the eye, he took the toy in his mouth and, putting on a show, he applied the lube like he was blowing a real stallion. Since every time he went down on the plastic shaft, he was rubbing it in her, Moonbeak was most pleased with the show.

The oral treat was so well done that he had to use another dose of lube because he had sucked it all off. Realising he had gotten carried away, he came up for air with a blush on his face. Not that Moonbeak was complaining about that, seeing as how her green eyes were slightly glazed over. Still blushing, mostly because sucking off the cock got him all hard, he said, “I'm done, Mistress, it’s ready.”

“You did that very well, pet.” Moonbeak smiled a most predatory smile as she got up and, after some considerable pulling on her stallion’s left hoof, she was behind him. “Now, to return the favor you gave me on the train!” Rearing up, she rested her right clawed hand on his shoulder and, in position, she trusted to the generous amount of lubrication on the toy and she went straight in, screaming, “Oh, yes!”

“BuuuUUUUUUCK!” Brightstar screamed loudly, from the pleasure and the intense feeling of being stuffed, filled and having his asshole spread open by his lover. The feeling of her weight on his back was a bonus.

Once she was hilted inside him, medial ring and all, Moonbeak didn’t hold back. She rutted him like a jackhammer pounding on some concrete that had offended it. So hard was she bucking him that he was sent face first into the bed, his mewling cries and screams muffled by the duvet he was drooling on.

Every time she bottomed out inside him, he screamed ever louder, pre dribbling from his cock as his prostate was excited time and again. It didn’t take very long at all for him. The moment the head of the stallionator touched his G spot he was spurting all over the floor.

Behind him, thrusting into his deflowered and stretched hole like she was paying for it, Moonbeak didn’t notice her pet’s climax as she was caught up in her own world of euphoric bliss and she continued to pound his ass with a vigour. Brightstar’s yellow eyes crossed and unfocussed as his tongue lolled out. Due to the constant rutting, he soon came for a second time, adding to the puddle on the floor.

While Moonbeak, seemingly untiring, continued to pound away at her pet, Brightstar wondered idly if this was what having his brains rutted out felt like. He was moaning like a mare with every deep pounding thrust. Then, after a few more moments, the lube started to wear off and suddenly it was not so much fun.

“Mmmm nnnng...Mi-Mistresssss…please…” Lost in her world of pleasure, Moonbeak didn’t hear his pained grunts. She had cum three times and wanted a fourth. So, she kept up her punishing pounding pace. Underneath her, Brightstar realised she wasn’t going to stop. “AAaaaah o-o-oooow Mi-Mistress!” Now, it really was becoming painful, not uncomfortable. And not in a good way.

He had no choice. He called out, “Rose!”

The very instant she heard his safeword, Moonbeak froze. His word was like a blast of cold water thrown over her. “What?”

In pain, Brightstar panted, taking several deep breaths, the unicorn all sweaty and disheveled. “Rose, Mistress,” he repeated, making sure she heard it clearly.

“Oh!” Moonbeak gasped and, now there was no doubt what he had said, she slowly withdrew. As soon as she was looking down at his gaping, tortured asshole, she picked up the scent of blood. “I may have gotten carried away, are you going to be okay, my love?”

Trying to stand, Brightstar staggered just slightly, though he was still smiling. “Yes Mistress, I'll be fine.”

Moonbeak though didn’t seem convinced. “Do we need to see a medic?”

He shook his head. While it was painful at the end, he knew he wasn’t seriously hurt. “No, nothing that drastic,” he nuzzled her cheek in an attempt to reassure her.

“That was more intense than the last time, it...it was really good!”

“Yeah it was really good,” Brightstar chuckled, “until the last few seconds anyway.”

“You know I respect your safe word, what went wrong so we can correct it in the future?”

“It went dry, my love.” Explained Brightstar simply, affectionately kissing her beak.

“Maybe I should finish a bit sooner then, next time I rut your ass.”

“Maybe you should,” Brightstar again nuzzled and kissed her cheek. “Did you finish?”

“Many times,” Moonbeak nodded. “Come, climb onto my back. I definitely need some air after that.” Albeit a little gingerly, Brightstar hopped up onto her back. The very second they left the grand state room though, the newly married couple were met with Air Raid, Darkstar, Cyclone all bearing hastily drawn score cards. All said ten. Even Shining Star and the nurse had one, Astraea having made sure her new best friend got one. To the thunderous applause of their guests, Moonbeak carried Brightstar down the corridor and out onto the deck of the airship.

Looking over the side, the took in the view of the Celestial Sea passing by a few thousand feet below them. “Now...this is a view…” Brightstar smiled as he looked left, he could see the whole of Equestria spreading out behind them. As it was a clear day, he could even see Canterlot Mountain in the far distance. When he looked right, towards his spiritual home, he was saddened that he couldn’t see Griffonstone just yet. However, the sight of Moonbeak stood by his side, the gentle breeze blowing her white feathers, that was enough for him.

It was a sight he was determined to remember until Stormclaw welcomed him to the Grey Spires.

Moonbeak caught him looking at her and she smiled, a genuine smile that lit up her green eyes. He was stunned by the sight of her beautiful smile. His friend, lover, wife and Mistress.

It was a pretty picture alright.

It was one for the picture book.