Author's Notes:
Thanks to Deadinlight for beta-reading and helping me edit
OK a slight warning, there is a block of text that is mostly there as a brief overview of the past two stories, you'll know it when you see it, while I do not suggest skipping it as it is actually there to enhance the story, if you want you can skip it.
Oh and I couldn't think of a wedding dress for Luna so please if you can think of one I would be mighty grateful
Post Common Era Chapter Thirteen/War of Stars Chapter Nine: The Wedding/Human Ingenuity
“What do you want?”
“What I want is a little respect, especially on my wedding day!” said Masao his expression a firm glare as Rarity facehoofed at Twilight’s comment. “I was going to ask if you wanted to bring your friends to the wedding, I may not like what you are doing, keeping them from their eternal rest, but they don’t seem to care so I haven’t told Celestia about—”
“You don’t need to tell me, I already know. Twilight came forwards a while ago when one of the servants walked in on her talking with her friends” said Celestia much to Masao’s surprise, “I talked to Cadance, she told me to wish you well, and that she wishes she was here for your wedding, but she has her own problems, apparently the Terran Empire tried to attack them, they failed spectacularly, the Crystal—On second thought, we will talk tomorrow, I’m sorry—”
“I know, I’m not getting a honeymoon, now if you three ladies will excuse me, I have an altar to get to, speaking of which, Celestia, seeing as Cadance can’t make it, do you think you can perform the ceremony?”
“Go, I will be up there long before your young bride is” at that Masao started to make his way to the altar, the ceremony room was similar to the one Cadance had used for her wedding, walking mostly from memory Masao’s thoughts went places he didn’t like, places he was sure that Cadance’s mind had gone to at least once during Shining Armor’s life.
‘Young… That is the operative word isn’t it for us immortals… Everypony is always just passing through our lives… My God, my God hath thou truly forsaken me? I only followed my heart…’ thought Masao when a familiar, but very unwelcome voice spoke up
“I c͠ould t̨ell ͡y̢ou̡, a̛ft̷er all,̨ ̴I a̸m҉ ̧a͟ ̢go̵d ̛my̧self͝, ̶I ̵cou͢l͝d ̷ţel̵l ̕y̧où i̶f ͘he ͜h̨as ͘f̨ǫr̡s͟a̕ken̕ ̢y̴ǫu o̵r ͝n̵o͠t. I̢ m̕e҉a͡n ͠why wo̶uld҉ ͘he bo̷th͟er w͝it͝h͠ yo̧u͢ anýw͢ay̡,̛ ̕y͠o̧u c̵h͘ose ͘immor͜t͞a̛l̨ity ̕ove͜r ͘hi͟m͟,͠ ̀a̷ll ҉fór ̀a̷ g̡ooḑ c҉au̕s͠e̕ ͘I suppo҉s͠e̡,̢ e͏ve͏n ́I ͘c͝an admit҉ t̨hat”
‘Stay out of it Tzeentch. No, I am not losing her again, I just have to find something nopony has ever done before and have her do it’
“N̸o͜ẃ w͝ho͢ ͠is̀ ̡g̵o҉in̸g̴ ͡g̨o̵ing҉ àgai̷ns͜t t́he̛ ̢nątura͢l̵ ͠o̡r̶d̨e͏r of t̛h̛in̛gs?”
- - -
Standing by the altar, Masao was surprised to see the UEC delegate in the audience he glanced at the human with a frown,
‘He had better not make a scene’ thought Masao as Twilight spread her five gems in front of some chairs, ‘Twilight’s necromancy is going to cause a stir, not just amongst the nobles, she is going to be either vilified or they will come in droves asking her to raise their loved ones from the dead’ he thought before just before the music started, as soon as it did, Twilight started channeling her spell, Applejack and Rarity were the first two to appear, but after that the music that signified the approach of the soon to be Princess Willow Leaf and Masao’s eyes moved to the beauty that was his future wife, who was being walked down the aisle by Luna who had a small smile on her face, the dress Luna wore was the one that Rarity had made her for her wedding…
- - -
“You’re beautiful”
“I know, but you shouldn’t have eyes for me today, today is all about her” said Luna as she side stepped and released a glamour from Willow Leaf, her dress was ivory white, and hugged her figure until it got to her flanks and then it flared out a bit, the intricate design on the chest was inlaid with pearls and diamonds, yet none of these gems were overbearing in a way to take away from the natural beauty of Willow Leaf, but rather to enhance it.
“Well what do you think? I didn’t get all dressed up for my sake” said Willow Leaf as she trotted in a circle in place, giving Masao the full look.
“My word! I couldn’t do better!” said Rarity from the crowd bringing attention to them and Masao groaned, but the amount of people who started talking were very few in comparison to how many he had feared. For now, Twilight was safe.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the binding of these three souls, my sister, my friend, and their soulmated lover as one herd, I have watched these three throughout the millennia, when first Masao arrived on Equis, he did not seek to be in a relationship beyond that of friendship with the mare Evening Star—” said Celestia and with her magic she conjured an image of the bat pony Evening Star in full regalia, while she had never been formally adopted into the royal family she was as good as one after Masao started a relationship with her. “—as their relationship grew so did the distance between me and my sister, as you all well know Masao fought alongside my sister in what is known as the Lunar Rebellion, but through all this, he managed to keep a relationship with Evening Star who remained loyal to the crown. At the end of the Rebellion, Masao showed his loyalty when the evil mare known as Nightmare Moon came into being—” She conjured, this time, the scene of Masao restraining Nightmare Moon as the Elements of Harmony, the real ones, fired at the dark duo. “—for years I knew not where, at the time, Ser Masao, had gone, nor did I know where my closest remaining friend, Evening Star had gone, she having left to search for her lover. Little did I know, that she found her lover and lived the remainder of her life as his lover and confidant, though they did not marry, they were closer than any married couple until the day she died. Fast forwards to her next life, it was not Ser Masao who found her, but rather, me—” she conjured an image of Sharp Sword, standing with all the pride of a soldier. “—Sharp Sword was an enemy combatant, part of a group that refused to surrender when Nightmare Moon had fallen, the Lunar Remnants, when she attempted, under orders, to have me assassinated, she failed, but I knew when I met her who she really was, my soul knew her, I had her pardoned and gave her a room in the castle, but the nobles of the time thought it better to forbid her access to the city, so rather than betray me, for showing her mercy, she formed a group to fight the Lunar Remnants as well as another extremist group that thought themselves more knowledgeable than myself, the Day’s Legion. So it went for a few years until Ser Masao returned from the Gryphon Kingdom, a clan of bat ponies in tow, the same bat ponies that later formed the Lunar Guard, they were attacked by both the Lunar Remnants and the Day’s Legion, and were saved by both Ser Masao’s mastery of dark magic and the arrival of Sharp Sword. Over the course of their travels the duo fell in love all over again, neither of them knowing that the other was their soulmate. Over the course of the next few years they learned that who they were, especially Sharp Sword. When Nightmare Moon returned, they fought alongside Princess Twilight and saved my sister from her clutches. Over the next few years, Ser Masao and Sharp Sword renewed their friendship with my sister. Within two years of my sister’s return, she and Ser Masao fell for each other, and rather than be jealous, as some mares can be, Sharp Sword pushed them together, hoping that maybe they could spend the rest of her life together, and they did. Still they did not marry, but for all intents and purposes Ser Masao was now a Prince-consort, having been in a lasting relationship with my sister, sadly it was not until after Sharp Sword fell against the centaur known as Tirek that Masao finally did marry my sister, and was made a full prince—” there were some tears flowing down Celestia’s face before she smiled weakly looking at Willow Leaf and nuzzled her for a little strength. “This time it was not myself that found her, but rather, Prince Masao, and I can not be any prouder, the mare known as Willow Leaf, who stands before you is Evening Star, is Sharp Sword, and is Willow Leaf, she is the soulmated mare that Masao first fell in love with all those centuries back. So I ask, are there any here who protest this union? Are there any who believe this union is in vain?” There was silence and just before Celestia continued the delegate from the UEC stood up and Masao all but glared at the human, but he simply cleared his throat.
“From what you told us, Prince Masao has lived for millennia, something no human on Earth has done, even for all of our technical advancements for all of our Medical advancements, but yet not only has he done this, he also has found love here. Do I object? No I don’t” said the human oblivious to Masao’s glare, but at the human’s exclamation, several nobles spoke up in an attempt to keep the royalty pure when the human spoke up once more. “I do not see the problem, if Prince Masao and the princesses all can tell who is the reincarnation of this Willow Leaf, then what are you worried about, for all intents and purposes, she is also immortal, maybe not in the technical sense, but her soul never crosses the etherium.” At that the nobles fell silent, their only defense ruined by the one human they hoped would stop this union.
“While this was not what I was expecting, shall we get on with the wedding?”
“Yes, yes. Do you, Willow Leaf, take Prince Masao as your husband to have and to hold from now until death? Do you promise to remain true, through sickness and health, through pain and sorrow, through richness and happiness?” asked Celestia and Willow Leaf smiled at Masao as tears started to well up in her eyes, for so long had she wanted this, and she didn’t even know it until just this moment.
“I do”
“Do you, Prince Masao Darkheart, take Willow Leaf as your wife, to have and to hold until death? Do you promise to remain true, through sickness and health, through pain and sorrow, through richness and happiness?” Masao smiled and answered with no hesitation.
“I do”
“Do you, Princess Luna, accept Willow Leaf as your herd-sister? To share your mate with her, to comfort her in her sadness, and share in her joy? Do you accept her as your equal?” It was here that the whole room held their breath, no one believed that Princess Luna would say no, but there was always the possibility and it was that possibility that scared them, or in the case of the nobles, filled them with hope.
“I do”
“Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you three as a single herd, and I now pronounce you, Princess Willow Leaf. Congratulations” as soon as Celestia finished there was cheering, a new princess had been crowned, and from what the princess had said, their beloved prince had finally married the mare he had loved throughout the ages. the celebration went on for several days, at least for the common folk, for Masao, he celebrated with Willow Leaf all night, secreting her away early in the night, as early as he could without seeming rude, however Princess Luna remained quiet with a small knowing smile on her face as she sipped her wine even as many ponies asked her where the rest of her herd was…
- - -
“Council I would have to object to any plans to forcefully remove the prince, I was at the wedding, and the amount of love for this prince is astounding, if we were to kidnap him, all we would do is alienate them, even if we were to make it seem that the Terran Empire did the kidnapping, they would be leery about accepting an alliance with us. From what I have learned, it is not Princess Twilight, the mare in charge of their diplomacy, but rather Prince Masao who is pushing for an alliance with us, and despite the current friction between them, she is doing so for him.” said the delegate from the wedding, he had truly seen how loved the prince was, as well as any of the royal family.
“Troubling,, but unavoidable, I suppose we will leave him be, tell me, how does the process of an alliance go?”
“To be honest, it is going over as smoothly as it can with the former demands, can I assume that I can take it off the table?”
“Yes, and offer reparations for the trouble we have caused, anything you think they could use, from what intel we have gathered from our spies in the Terran Empire, even their slightly less advanced allies in the Crystal Empire managed to beat back an entire company of their best soldiers with little losses on their side. It’s time we made allies against our enemies”