Two months later they had the wedding, right in the Canterlot throne room. Hardly surprising; since the installation of the second Crystal Heart over the thrones, it had become the most popular spot for weddings in Equestria. Reserving it cost a fortune and had a waiting list a mile long. Of course, when the marriage was for a princess of Equestria, getting moved up the list was fairly easy.

Everyone-- and we do mean everyone, not merely everypony-- was there. ... even Twilight's coronation hadn't matched this crowd. If one looked outside there were mobs of civilians out in the street, ponies with cameras trying to catch a photo, fillies swooning at the romance of it all and hopeful stallions waiting to catch them when they swooned. Inside, the Royal Brats were there in force, as were the Crusaders, family of the bride, family of the groom, the entire (remaining) royalty of the House of Lords, the interim House of Commons. Soft Soap was in the back row, jockeying for position with Roller Reel, both of them dead set on getting the best camera angle and not willing to give an inch to their symbolic rival. The Builders and Busters, Spike and Bright Eye's combat support team, were standing honor guard, Spike and Bright Eyes leading the columns in their uniforms, Peewee perched on Spike's epaulet and all three proud enough to bust buttons. The Quartet were going through hankies like there was no tomorrow-- and having to share a box of tissues with Sundiver, much to Lightning Blitz's disgust. Several of the Kings of the Western Sea and members of the Council of Stewards were there as well, Pele' being the most visible by sheer default. Even Discord was there, on his best behavior and a VERY short leash. And of course Nyx was right in the front row, fidgeting with excitement next to King Triton, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

The Princesses would not be officiating. The Firebird insisted.

The groom was at the altar, sweating like a nervous wreck. The bride, after five panic attacks, three bouts of the hiccups, six glasses of water, and a good dozen breathing exercises, had appeared at the end of the aisle, radiant enough to outshine the Firebird itself.

Sweetiebelle and a young colt in a tuxedo and, oddly enough, a propeller beanie, began to sing a duet.(1)

All those days watching from the windows

All those years outside looking in

All that time never even knowing

Just how blind I've been....

There wasn't an unsmiling face or a dry eye in the house as Twilight strode down the aisle next to her father. She reached the foot of the dais just as the song ended.

...And it's warm and real and bright

And the world has somehow shifted

All at once, everything is different

Now that I see you...

The delivery was slightly spoiled by the colt frog-punching Sweetiebelle in the arm and snatching back his Joyboy from her clutches the instant the song ended... but nopony was looking that way, so nopony noticed.

The Firebird spread its wings. "Fellow beings, we are gathered here today, in the sight of the Maker of All Things, to join together this mare and this stallion in the bonds of matrimony..."

Twilight looked into Ink Spots eyes, and her own blurred a little. This was a joyous time, the most wonderful day of her life! The beginning of a beautiful lifetime together with the stallion she loved.... as brief as that lifetime might be. No, she told herself. She would not think like that. Even immortals don't know what the future brings. All any of us have from the Maker is today. And if I only get one brief little lifetime with Ink Spot, I'll treasure every second of it.

"You may now exchange the rings," the Firebird said, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh! yes..." blushing, she and Ink Spot slid two simple gold bands over each other's horns.

"What has been joined together before the Maker, let no power in heaven or earth dare put asunder," the Firebird sang. "Let their vows be said, and remembered by all present till the end of time."

Twilight and Ink Spot beamed at each other. They touched horns and began reciting the vows they had written. It was a revision of something Twilight had read before; she had removed the dynamic invocatives from it, so it was nothing more than a poem. But she thought it suited the situation perfectly.

"From one to another, another to one. A mark of our destinies, now brought together, fulfilled..."

In the front row, Celestia and Luna's faces became suffused with alarm. They shot looks at the bridesmaids, who were all wearing their elements of Harmony... then at the Element of Magic sitting on Twilight's own brow... then at the Crystal Heart hovering just over the head of the giant freaking rainbow-glowing magic bird as the bride and groom recited a garbled version of an ancient spell right in the middle of the largest accumulation of nigh-cosmic entities since Discord's fifth birthday. "She wouldn't," Celestia said.

"She is," Luna confirmed.

Nyx was not oblivious. "What's wrong?" she said, alarmed.

Celestia calculated all their options at lightning speed-- and concluded there weren't enough. She handed Nyx a pair of Neigh-Bans and donned a pair herself. "Just put your sunglasses on, dear," she said.

Triton observed their antics and frowned. "What---"

FOOM.

Without warning, the Elements, the Crystal Heart, the Firebird, and the horns of the groom and bride flared with light. Shouts, cries, and squawks of panic went up. When the blazing light flooding the throne room died, Luna whipped off her sunglasses and did a rapid head count of the Bearers. All were present. "Nuts," she swore. "All accounted for, Tia. I would have thought this--"

"Then who--?" It was just then that several shouted exclamations brought to her attention that the groom was missing.

"Ink Spot?" Twilight exclaimed. She got to her feet from where she had tumbled and ran to the scorch mark where her groom had been standing. "Ink Spot!"

Before she could go into a horrified panic, a ball of light appeared at the peak of the vaulted ceiling. It slowly descended, taking the form of a disheveled looking stallion. "INK SPOT!" Twilight said, flinging herself at him and grappling him in a frightened hug. Startled, Ink Spot stumbled. There was a ripping noise as his tuxedo jacket gave way and he spread his wings.

Both their eyes went round as saucers. The gasp from the audience nearly emptied the air out of the room.

The Firebird didn't even turn a feather. "I now pronounce you husband and wife," the shining bird said blithely. "You may kiss the bride, Prince Ink Spot."

After weeks of near-Pavlovian conditioning, Ink Spot complied. The bride enthusiastically returned it.

Nyx wasn't the first to leave her seat, but she was the first to voice her opinion of the matter as she pronked in a circle around her mother and father:

"YESyesyesyesyesyesYES!"

1)Sweetie had overheard him singing songs from 'the Melodica of History,' and we shant say how she persuaded him to sing for the wedding, but his agreement resolved a hostage crisis involving his JoyBoy and a blender.