Why did they make marriage sound so incredible? That was the prominent question on Gleaming Shield's mind as she traversed the distance to the palace. She had been about the city as usual so that she could check up on things. The citizens seemed quite at ease with their long-term problems finally solved. On the outside, Gleaming would be quick to agree with any of them. It was good news that Queen Oscura had finally been dealt with. The Empire was recovering at lightning speed under its new overseer, Prince Tempo. The white unicorn mare just couldn't bring herself to consider her husband as the ruler of the crystal ponies. Deep down past her polite and caring servitude, she was annoyed.
Gleaming had read more than her fair share of books, which was in no small part due to her little brother's obsession with the medium. A few of those books had contained characters who married each other. Some of the books even - indirectly - gave advice concerning marriage. Books aside, modern movies were full of romance. Gleaming didn't see movies often because of her duties and even less now that she was married, but she had seen enough of them to catch the ongoing themes that they all portrayed. Every movie that she had seen involving a fairy tale had always ended with the two characters getting married and having a "happily ever after." Either she had an unusual luck with the movies she watched or it was a staple of the genre. So where was her happy ending?
Last time she checked, her marriage involved a chaotic life-threatening wedding, one unique but extremely awkward night, and a never ending stream of failed expectations mixed with "life as usual." In essence, her life was now worse than it had been before she had gotten married. The downward spiral of her thoughts was only interrupted as she entered the throne room. She hadn't even realized that she had entered the palace. It gave her the creeps that she had already become so familiar with everything that she could get around without any mental effort.
"Is everything okay?" the pink alicorn asked from across the room. He was not seated on the throne but was instead busy inspecting some inscription on the wall.
Gleaming Shield gave a quizzical expression as she trotted over to him. "Why would you think otherwise?"
The prince didn't turn his face this time but continued to study the foreign characters that were chiseled in the crystal. "I've been finding some menacing little traps throughout the palace. Magic inscriptions meant to deter ponies who disagreed with Oscura's rule. Other than that...your face."
"Huh?" Gleaming asked as she repulsed from her position beside the alicorn.
Tempo laughed calmly in the royal manner that only he could do. Squinting for a microsecond, he turned back to face the unicorn. "You look serious. There's obviously something on your mind."
The mare chided herself for wearing her heart on her hoof and horn. The alicorn had a knack for reading her body language. Apparently, the stallion's talent in love was able to translate into understanding her mood with annoying accuracy. "It's nothing. You'd better be careful; that trap is still active."
Tempo slid on his rare overconfident grin. "What? This trap?" he asked as he lifted a hoof and leaned into the wall's inscription. The trap activated and blew confetti onto the couple.
"You modified the magic," Gleaming Shield deadpanned.
The stallion chuckled, "Well of course, dear."
Gleaming felt him intentionally bump her flank as he trotted back to the throne. "What's got you so chipper today?"
"Hmmm," he wondered aloud as he took his seat. "Maybe the real question is what's got you down?"
The mare sighed in return. "I already said it's nothing."
Finally, the pink alicorn lowered his voice and spirits. "If it has my precious wife feeling rotten then it has to be something. And don't give me that annoyed look again. See, you're already doing it."
"Because you just have to read into everything I say, think, and feel," Gleaming remarked, already exasperated.
In two flaps, Tempo launched from the throne and landed in front of the unicorn. He had that serious look that he only had when he thought that there was something important at stake. Gleaming had learned all of the different expressions and moods that the stallion had in his repertoire. It was just something she picked up by being around him for such a long portion of her life.
"Gleaming," he started. "I love you."
"I know..."
"I'm asking you what's wrong because I don't like it when something is bothering you. We've been through Tartarus together, so why won't you tell me?"
It was that very word that made her drop her guard. It was never easy for her to hold that guard up in the first place - not with Tempo. "Because we have been through Tartarus and it just won't stop. It's as if our wedding night was the only time we've had together. I just..."
Seeing that his special somepony was spilling her emotional guts, the alicorn stayed silent and let her continue even through the awkward pause. His cutie mark wasn't just for show, after all.
"...want to have more of those moments...where I don't have to be 'Captain of the Guard' and save the day..."
"More of the 'Happily Ever After,' right?" the prince added.
Gleaming Shield nodded gravely and realized that her eyes had watered up. She wasn't that distraught over it so why was she so close to crying?
Tempo raised a hoof to her face and stroked it. "Sometimes we don't even know how strongly we really feel about something until we have to talk about it."
The mare widened her eyes as she looked back into Tempo's. His voice had lacked it's usual sturdiness in his last statement. He was trying to keep a strong appearance even though he was also getting emotional. "I guess you didn't think I was bothered by it. I was just trying to stay strong for you but...I hate it too. I really really hate how everything has been going since we got married. I knew we'd always have our duties - our responsibilities. But I thought we could work things out. I didn't think everything would go to the seventh level of Tartarus after our honeymoon."
Gleaming Shield nodded eagerly and tried not to cry. What he was saying was just a fresh reminder why she married him in the first place. He understood her. He cared.
"So that's why I'm trying to be more energetic," his smile returned. "After the fiasco with the Queen, I feel like I've gone through a blender. But I don't want that to stop me from being the best I can be for your sake."
Gleaming abandoned her resolve to not cry. Tears flew as she launched herself into a hug with her husband. He returned it and held her until her crying stopped. It was a good ten minutes before they parted.
"Why can't we have a normal marriage?" she laughed sadly at her own remark.
The pink stallion grinned back, "How about we just say we finished our work and goof off for the rest of the day?"
The unicorn faked shock as she started to catch his giddy mood. "Are you serious?"
"I'm the prince. My word is law!" he joked as an idea struck him. His flank started moving back and forth like it always did when he was playing around. "And I say that my lazy 'Captain of the Guard' needs to be locked away for her extreme insubordination!"
Gleaming Shield was finally able to forget her earlier mood. Tempo was acting just like he used to when he would play around with her and her brother. It was nostalgic...
He continued, "But not the dungeon. That would be too easy on you. I say it must be...my be-"
Tempo was never able to finish as the unicorn gave him a playful buck from her back hooves and raced into the nearest corridor. "Oh, mutiny is it?!" he roared as he rocketed out of the throne room after her.
After failing to catch up and losing her twice, he almost got lost himself. The castle was not necessarily big but it was in every sense complicated. He got lucky when his wife made the mistake of running past a side-corridor nearby. The prince used his wings to careen around the corner and knock her to the floor. "Gah," she gasped.
"Ready for punishment?" he gloated as he pinned her down from atop her back.
"I don't think 'punishment' is the right wor..." she stopped eerily as something moved below them.
Tempo noticed something was wrong from the way her voice trailed off. "What is it...?"
She could only watch it happen in horror and slow motion. Inscriptions in the floor lit up in a creepy glow and moved in circular gear-like patterns. It was one of the Queen's traps and it was a big one. The white unicorn ran out of time even as she tried to move out from under her husband. He noticed it as well but was also too late. The trap was designed to ensnare quickly.
It succeeded.
· · · · ·
"No...no!" Gleaming cried as she regained consciousness. This was not supposed to happen. They were supposed to have the day off!
Tempo groggily got off the ground to which he had been roughly dropped. "Teleport magic...?" he mused in a gravely voice.
His wife darted back and forth in his vision, seemingly unaffected by the ordeal. Well, her guard training sure had toughened her up. She wasn't captain for nothing. The sight she was taking in was unreal, as it certainly wasn't nighttime when they had been teleported. They also hadn't been unconscious that long, right? Her ability to gauge such a length of time was irrelevant, however, because they were not in the castle anymore. They were not in the Empire either.
They were not even in Equestria.
"Where in the-" Tempo gawked as his vision cleared and he took in the sights.
What he saw in front of him would have been spectacular if it were not for the thousands of questions and concerns that it begged. In front of his was Gleaming Shield, wearing a look of near panic. Behind her was a night sky of stars. They were stars that were far too brilliant and far too clear. The stars were not alone, however. There was also something very big. It was like a moon but it had unique patterns of white and green and blue. The sun shone faintly off one side of the orb. It was mostly hidden in the eclipse. A smaller orb hovered in front of the larger one and mostly showed its dark side to the two ponies. Tempo didn't speak. He didn't want to think about what those two orbs were.
"Tempo..." Gleaming's voice trembled. "Honey..." she tried again as the fear took hold.
"Science class..." he finally whispered. "Celestial existence and travel using the base theory of magical teleportation and atmospheric containment. I hated that class. Why would I even need that information..." he giggled hysterically.
After wasting a good few moments in shock, Gleaming Shield took note of the ground beneath her. She stomped her hoof on it just to make sure it was real. "We're standing on some kind of enormous...rock," she stated devoid of emotion.
Tempo also returned from his stone-faced state of disbelief and proceeded straight into intense worry. "Space. Stone. Trap. Oh, uncle Solaris! Please let there be a way back!"
The unicorn watched helplessly as the prince ran across the barren face of rock. It was difficult to make out but there was definitely a magical sphere around the rock that kept the atmosphere contained. It was, however, quite far up...or down. Space doesn't have a true direction, Gleaming remembered tiredly. At least that was what the textbooks had said if she had recalled them correctly. Her brother had a fascination with stars and space, so it was something she was more familiar with than some other things...like methods to detect and avoid traps. Her guard training should have emphasized it more.
What atmosphere did exist had obviously been formed with the intent to be temperature independent of the sun. Space was cold to begin with if those books were to be trusted. But the lack of visibility to the sun would make it as cold as scientifically possible, right? Or would there still be some warmth from the reflection of other planets? Okay, so maybe she didn't know as much as Dusk Shine did. Nopony would blame her, right? Whatever the case, the air was breathable and the temperature was just cold enough to be uncomfortable but not unbearable.
"Gleaming!"
The unicorn jerked her head back to look at the alicorn. He was a good field's distance away at one of the rock's sides. It dropped off sharply from where he was standing - or so she guessed by the angle. When she trotted up beside him, she saw that she was only half right. The rock did have a small cliff there but it did not end. About a pine tree's height downwards, the rock flattened again and led into the distance. It did not lead into a barren distance though. There were a collection of marked and lit paths leading in various directions. Some of them even led down into the rock that made up the ground. Beside the scatted trails were a variety of machines. She couldn't tell what they were from a distance, though.
Tempo turned to face her and their eyes met. "We've got to get out of here."
"No kidding," she laughed weakly.
"There might be an exit down there."
"Let's hope so."
Without warning, the prince scooped up the mare in his front hooves and leaped from the edge of the rock. Not wanting to argue about using teleportation or other methods of travel, she let him carry her. It wasn't a very far drop so the flight was short. Considering the expanse of paths, machines, and who knows how many tunnels, the flight was probably the shortest part of their journey.