//------------------------------// // Family and Wedding Bells // Story: Family Ties // by RuinQueenofOblivion //------------------------------// Sunset yawned a little as she laid back on the couch in the apartment she shared with Twilight Sparkle. They had just gotten back from talking with the caterer for their upcoming wedding. With that done and the invitations being ready and about to be sent out, it felt like everything was about ready to go. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling as she brushed her red and yellow hair back a little. It was hard to believe that they were so close to the wedding, their friends and families, well, Twilight's family were all invited and the location was booked so there was nothing left to worry about, right? Then why was something still nagging at the back of her mind? She sighed a little and shook her head, right now she just wanted to relax and not worry about anything. "Hey Sunny," a familiar voice said and she smiled a little when she looked up to see Twilight standing there looking down at her. "Is everything okay?" "Yeah, everything's fine," Sunset said with a soft smile as she looked up at her fiance. "I'm just trying to figure a few things out, you know?" "Like what?" "I don't know, that's part of the problem," Sunset said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Its like there's something we're missing from all our plans, I don't really know, probably my imagination." "You sent an invitation to Princess Twilight right?" Twilight asked as she looked at Sunset for a long moment. "Of course I did, she said she'd be there," Sunset said with a soft smile and started to close her eyes gently as Twilight moved behind her and rubbed her shoulders. "Actually she offered to officiate, but we already have a minister picked out and we'd have to go to Equestria for that and... yeah." "You know, I've been thinking... you haven't really ever talked about your family back in Equestria," Twilight said and Sunset's eyes went wide at that as she shot up. "What? I was just wondering is all." "Sorry, I just, I haven't really thought about my family in a long time," Sunset said with a sigh as she laid back down and looked up at Twilight. "Really I don't have a lot of family left, my parents died before I went to Celestia's school. I, had a little sister but I don't really know what happened to her." "Why's that?" Twilight asked as she went back to rubbing Sunset's shoulders as she looked at her curiously for a moment. "Well, I went to the school and she went to live with some relatives or something I think," Sunset said with a sigh as she brushed her hair back a little. "She was just a baby at the time, and I honestly don't remember much about her. I was kind of focused on my studies, I don't know what might've happened to her since then." "Interesting," Twilight said as she smiled softly. "Maybe we should see if we can find her and invite her to the wedding. I mean, we've got all my family and our friends invited right? So, why don't we see if we can invite your family too? I know its kind of random, but I would love to get to know your family..." Sunset paused a moment as she leaned back and thought about that for a long moment. She had always kind of wondered what happened to her sister and if she was okay with their aunts. Maybe she should at least give it a try and see if she'd be interested in coming. She sighed a little, the filly had been just a baby at the time she went to school so there was no guarantee that she'd even know about her. And if she did, how much did Celestia tell them about what she had done? But, if she was going to make Twilight part of her family, maybe the time had come to finally see what happened to her little sister. She just hoped that she was going to be able to track her down after all these years. "Maybe, but I honestly don't know what I'd even say to her," Sunset said with a sigh. "Or who she is and how we'd find her." "You do realize you know a princess in Equestria right? I'm pretty sure she can track down this kind of thing," Twilight said as she rolled her eyes at her fiance's absent mindedness. "As for what you'd say to her, I don't know honestly. I'm not very good at this kind of thing either, but I think you should just at least try and talk to her." "Maybe you're right," Sunset said with a sigh as she looked up at Twilight with a soft smile. "What would I ever do without you Twi?" "Probably go insane," Twilight said with a giggle as she leaned down and kissed Sunset gently on the lips. "Come on, lets send a message to Princess Twilight that we might be swinging by there tomorrow and..." "Wait, tomorrow?" Sunset asked as her eyes went wide a little. "Isn't that kind of soon?" "We're getting married next week, how soon do you want to do this?" Twilight asked with a chuckle, Sunset tried to say something but closed her mouth. "Objection withdrawn your honor," she said which just made Twilight giggle more. "I hope you're right about this, but, what do I do if she hates me? I mean, I've been absent from her life for years." "She's your little sister, I'm sure everything will be okay," Twilight said and then slid around and gave Sunset a soft kiss on the lips. "How about we take care of that later and just enjoy ourselves a little?" Sunset smiled as she ran her hand slowly along Twilight's back and kissed the purple skinned girl back. She just hoped that everything really was going to be okay. 00000 "So, let me get this straight, Sunset has a little sister that she's never told us about," Rainbow Dash said as she and the other Rainbooms were meeting up with the couple. "But since you two are getting married next week, you wanted to go and find her and see if she'll come?" "Yeah, pretty much," Sunset said with a nod. "I'm sure it sounds kind of silly, but I'd just like to see if maybe she'd want to come. I just hope that she's going to be okay with this whole thing." "I, think it'll be fine if you just give it a chance Sunset," Fluttershy said with a soft smile. "Yeah, yer family, and family sticks together right?" Applejack pointed out as she put her arm around Rarity. "Ah'm sure whoever yer little sister is will be willin' ta at least hear yah out." "Yeah, I'm sure she will," Sunset said with a soft smile as she gave her friends a nod and looked back towards Twilight. "Are you ready to go Twi? I know you're not a fan of traveling through the portal like this." "I've gotten used to it," Twilight said with a nod as she leaned in and gave Sunset a kiss on the lips. "Besides, we're not going to be gone that long. Everything is pretty much set up at this point, I think." "Don't worry darling, I've gotten everything ready for your big day," Rarity said with a smile. "Your dresses are all done as are the bridesmaids dresses for the rest of us." "I still don't want to wear one," Rainbow Dash said as she crossed her arms. "I think you'll look beautiful in it Rainbow," Fluttershy said as she hugged the tomboyish woman a little. "Come on, if you're good I'll give you a nice reward later." Rainbow Dash blushed a little as she nodded. "Anyway, uh, we'll see you when you get back okay? Good luck finding your little sister." "Thanks," Sunset said with a nod as the two of them headed through the portal to Equestria. 00000 "Ooof, I swear I'll never get used to walking on four legs," Twilight said as she fell forward onto her hooves on the other side of the portal. "Try getting used to walking on two sometime," Sunset said with a chuckle as she stretched out a little. She looked at the purple Unicorn that was her fiance as she adjusted her glasses a little and wiped them off. "Princess Twilight said she'd be here to greet us I wonder..." "Oh hey, you're here!" A familiar voice said as Princess Twilight came into the room. "Sorry, I had to deal with something back at the school so I was a little late. I hope you weren't waiting long." "No, no, we just got here," Sunset said with a smile. "I'm glad to hear you could make it to the big day next week." "Yeah, of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world," Princess Twilight said with a smile. "So you said that you wanted information on your family right?" "Yeah, that's right," Sunset said as they started out of the mirror room. "I know its kind of a strange request, especially after how long I've been gone. But I wanted to, you know, reach out to them a little..." "Of course, that's totally understandable," Princess Twilight said with a smile as she gave the two a nod. "I'm really happy for you two, everything around here's been pretty quiet though. I'll have to look through the genealogical records, but I think I can find them pretty quickly." "That's good," Sunset said and let out a sigh of relief. "Though, I came from Canterlot, I don't know if that's going to be a problem or not." "Oh don't worry, it might make things a little more challenging but nothing I haven't ever dealt with before," Princess Twilight said with a smile. "Are you sure you don't want to have your wedding here in Ponyville? We can still bring over your friends and family." "No, I think that would be hard to explain, and harder to get used to," Twilight said with a shake of her head. "Though, we were thinking about coming here for our honeymoon. I mean, if that's okay of course." "Oh no trouble, we've got plenty of room in the castle, probably more than we'll ever need," Princess Twilight said with a chuckle as she opened up a door to the library where a lot of records were laid out on a table. "Since you said you were interested in finding your family I brought in as much as I could from around Equestria. The stuff from Canterlot is over here, so we shouldn't have much of a problem." "That's still quite a lot..." Sunset said as she saw the records. "Yeah, sorry about that," Princess Twilight said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. "I knew it was going to be a lot, but we can narrow it down a little bit still. I'm guessing both your parents are Unicorns though, and that..." "Actually, my dad was a Pegasus," Sunset admitted kind of sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. "I come from kind of a weird family." "Eh, I've seen weirder," Princess Twilight said but smiled a little. "That actually helps narrow it down a little, there's not a lot of couples like that in Canterlot. Lets see here..." She started going through the pile as Twilight and Sunset joined in. There was a lot of papers here, she shouldn't be surprised really since there were a lot of ponies born in and living in Canterlot. She curiously unrolled one of them and looked it over. "Huh, looks like Prince Blueblood is only barely related to the Princesses after all," she muttered to herself, she never really liked the Prince during her time in the school. "That's not exactly what we're looking for," Princess Twilight said, but she couldn't help suppressing a chuckle of her own. "Any luck Twilight?" "Maybe," Twilight said as she looked back at her fiance and her doppelganger. "There are a few families in this section with... oh here we go!" She picked up a scroll and unrolled it out on the table as best she could with her hooves. The three of them gathered around and looked down at it curiously for a long moment as Princess Twilight's eyes went a little wide. "You're kidding..." she said and shook her head a little. "Okay, that was definitely not something I expected." "Me neither," Sunset admitted, she knew this pony's human counterpart but she had never thought of them being like that. "So, what are we supposed to do? Should we just go talk to her?" "Maybe," Princess Twilight said with a sigh. "I think honestly we need to talk with her guardians first to make sure that they're okay with us even talking to her about it. Its not going to be easy to convince them since you've been gone for so long." "Yeah... I know," Sunset said and sighed a little. "Lets at least try, I'd like to get to know my family better. I never really had the chance to before." "Yeah, I get that," Princess Twilight said with a soft smile as Twilight hugged her fiance lightly. "Come on, lets go talk to them at least. Who knows, maybe they'll be willing to hear you out at least." "I hope so," Sunset said as they gathered up the scrolls in a neat pile and headed out of the library. 00000 As they walked, Princess Twilight and Twilight got some strange looks since other than their manestyles they looked pretty much identical. Sunset chuckled a little, she wondered if this would happen if she had a doppelganger out there somewhere, but she didn't really want to think about that right now, she was a mare on a mission. And that's when they stopped outside of a small, pretty ordinary looking two story house. Twilight placed her hoof gently on Sunset's wither and gave her a smile. "Its going to be okay Sunny, I promise," she said and Sunset nodded as she nuzzled her fiance gently. "Maybe you should go in alone, at least to talk to them," Sunset said as she looked up at Princess Twilight for a moment. "I mean, its going to be a lot for them to take in. It might be better that way, you know?" "Okay, I'll talk to them first," Princess Twilight said with a nod as she trotted up to the door and knocked on it. After a moment a mare answered it and welcomed her inside while Sunset and Twilight took a seat on the small porch and just waited as Sunset looked up at the sky. She had no idea what she was going to say to these ponies right now. They were her family, even if she hadn't seen them in years that was still true. She was more nervous about this than she had ever been about anything else. And then a scary thought hit her, how much did they know about her? Was it possible that Celestia had told them about what happened at the school? Were they going to think she was some sort of monster despite the fact that she had changed? Twilight looked at her worriedly for a moment as she placed her hoof gently on the Unicorn's. "Sunset, its going to be okay," she said softly as she squeezed the mare's hoof gently. "I promise, your family is going to just be happy you're back." "I hope you're right," Sunset said with a sigh as she looked at Twilight for a moment. "I don't even remember her, what kind of big sister am I that I forgot who my little sister was? She probably hates me for that, and I don't really blame her at all." "Sunset, you've come a long way to get to this point," Twilight said with a reassuring smile as she shook her head a little. "You're here because you want to make amends for what happened before and reconnect with your family. That's the important thing right now, I'm glad that you decided to take this step and I'm going to be here with you the whole way." Sunset smiled and chuckled a little. "What did I ever do to deserve a wonderful fiance like you?" "Do you want the short list or the long list?" Twilight asked with a chuckle as they shared a long kiss together just as the door opened and Princess Twilight stepped out. She smiled a little and gave them a moment before they broke the kiss and looked up at her. "Well, uh, do you have good news or bad news?" "Your aunts want to talk with you Sunset," Princess Twilight said with a nod as she nodded back at the door. "They're waiting for you inside." "Okay, time to face the music," Sunset said and got to her hooves as she looked back at Twilight who gave her a nod as they headed into the house together. 00000 The house was small, pretty cozy actually. Sunset smiled a little as she saw pictures lining the walls of ponies, in particular a young one having fun and talking. This was a good home, she kind of wished that she could've called it her own instead of what she had wound up doing. "Sunset, is it really you?" A mare's voice said from behind her and she turned to see a green colored Earth Pony mare with a pale yellow mane and tail looking at her curiously. "Yeah, its really me, Aunt Holiday," Sunset said as she finally managed to smile a little. The mare cried a little as she hugged Sunset tightly and Sunset blinked in surprise but smiled a little as she hugged back. "Princess Celestia told us about what happened at the School," Holiday said with a shake of her head. "We didn't want to believe it, you were always such a good filly we didn't think you'd actually run off like that..." "I'm sorry," Sunset said and shook her head a little. "I shouldn't have run off you're right, I've gone through a lot since then and I regret every moment of it. But at the same time if I hadn't, I wouldn't have made the friends I have, or gotten an amazing fiance like Twilight here." "Come on, lets sit down, we have so much to talk about," Holiday said as they headed into the living room together where a Pegasus mare with cream colored fur and a pink and purple mane was seated sipping tea. "You remember Aunt Lofty of course." "How could I forget?" Sunset asked with a chuckle as Lofty looked up at her and smiled a little. "So, what brings you back here finally?" Lofty asked curiously as she looked at her wayward niece. "You've come a long way from what Princess Twilight told me, I don't know if I believe all of it mind you, sounds kind of crazy to me." "Heh, tell me about it," Sunset said with a shake of her head, really if she hadn't lived it she probably wouldn't have believed in that kind of world either. "Look, Holiday, Lofty, we have some stuff to talk about." "Oh, and what's that?" Holiday asked as they all took a seat around the room. "You're not going to run off again now that we have you here are you?" "No, no thing like that!" Sunset said with a shake of her head. "Its just, me and Twilight here are getting married, and we wanted to find my family and invite them to the ceremony. I'm, sorry I haven't really been in contact with you before this..." "Sunset, its alright," Holiday said and Lofty nodded a little. "You were going through a tough part of your life, Twilight told us a little bit about it but if you don't want to talk about it with us that's fine too." "I, probably should tell you everything at some point, but its kind of a long story," Sunset said with a shake of her head as she placed her hoof on Twilight's gently. "I made a lot of mistakes, that much I will say. But Because of it, I made friends and found a wonderful woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with." "Well, that's good enough for me, though I wish you had come back much sooner," Lofty said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "So, you're getting hitched huh? I'm sorry your folks couldn't be there to see it..." "Yeah, me neither," Sunset said and closed her eyes a moment before she looked back at her aunts and then back at Twilight. "I should have tried to stay in contact with you three, but I was so focused on my studies and my own ambitions that I didn't even care about my family. I'm sorry, I should have come here a long time ago, I messed up, but I'm here to try and make up for it." "Sunset, its going to be okay," Holiday said. "We don't hold any of it against you even if we are a bit disappointed. I'm, just glad to have you back right now." "Me too," Lofty said as Sunset nodded a little and smiled before a thought occurred to her. "My sister, does she know anything about me?" Sunset asked with a sigh as she looked down at her hooves. "I left when she was so young, I doubt she remembers me." "She's, had a rough time I won't lie," Holiday said with a shake of her head. "She's always looked for a big sister figure, and she's found one, and she's nice and a great big sister. If, you want to tell her everything then its up to you really, I don't think it'll change that much. Just promise me you won't do anything to hurt her, she's the closest thing we have to a foal of our own." "I promise," Sunset said with a nod as she looked over at the Twilights for a moment. "I've hurt enough ponies, I don't want to hurt another one." "Okay, she should be home soon," Lofty said with a nod as she looked at them with a soft smile. "It really is good to have you back Sunset." With that the two aunts went to make dinner and Princess Twilight decided to leave the couple alone for a little bit in order to talk. Sunset sighed a little and rested her head lightly on the lavender Unicorn's shoulder lightly and closed her eyes. It was hard to believe that they had actually managed to get over this obstacle, now all that was left was to actually talk to her little sister. She looked at Twilight for a long moment and gave her a soft smile as she nuzzled her gently. Twilight smiled and looked back at her for a long moment, she had to admit that it had taken a lot to get used to when she realized she was dating a pony turned human, but she didn't care, she loved Sunset for who she was no matter what species she was. This wasn't her first time being a pony, but it was nice to know that she'd always have someone, or somepony there with her. "So, your aunts seem nice," Twilight said with a smile as she looked down at Sunset. "How come you didn't tell me about them before?" "Like I said, I've, kinda lost touch with my family," Sunset said with a shake of her head. "I just remember their names and that they're my aunts. Its, been so long that I guess my mind pushed everything else out." "Its okay Sunset," Twilight said and gave her a light kiss on the forehead. "Sunny, do you ever regret not staying with your family? I mean, you must've had the chance to do so instead of going to the school." "I... honestly sometimes I do," Sunset admitted with a sigh. "But I also know that if I didn't, I wouldn't have the friends I have, or the fiance either. I do sometimes wish I had been the big sister I should have been, but at the same time I'm kind of glad I did make the decision I did in a weird way." "Don't worry about it Sunset, there's not much point to dwelling on what might've been anyway," Twilight said. "Maybe now that you know and have re-connected with them you can make up for it." "Hopefully, if she doesn't hate me for it," Sunset said with a sigh and closed her eyes. They just wanted to enjoy the moment together as they waited for her sister to come home. 00000 "I'll see you tomorrow Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said as she waved to her Pegasus friend. "Have a good evening!" "You too Sweetie," Scootaloo said with a soft smile as she waved to her friend and headed up to her house as she yawned a little. She was looking forward to getting dinner with her aunts and just enjoying a nice evening of reading Daring Do in her room and relaxing for awhile. She stretched her wings out a little as she secured her scooter and opened the door to the house. "Aunt Holiday, Auntie Lofty, I'm home," she said and started towards the stairs that would take her up to her room. "Scootaloo, can you come into the kitchen please?" Her aunt Holiday's voice said from the kitchen. "We'd like to talk to you about something." "Uh, sure," Scootaloo said and blinked a little, she was a bit confused as to what her aunts wanted but she walked into the kitchen where they were seated at the table while dinner cooked nearby. "What's going on? Is everything okay?" "No, no everything is fine, but you should sit down for this," Lofty said with a sigh and Scootaloo blinked a little as she sat down on one of the chairs. "Scootaloo, there's something we've never told you before about our family." "What?" Scootaloo asked as she blinked a little, she had learned only a couple of years ago that she had lost her parents when she was just a baby and had been raised by her aunts. As far as she knew, they were her only family, so what were they talking about now? "What about my family?" "Well Scootaloo, the truth is you, do have an older sister," Lofty said as she brushed her mane back a little and Scootaloo's eyes went wide for a moment. "She went to school around the time you lost your parents, and, well we kind of lost touch after that. I'm sorry that we didn't tell you about this before, but given some of her, actions, we felt it may be best." Scootaloo blinked in confusion. She had no idea what to make of this, she had an older sister and she had been missing because she had been at school? She wasn't sure what to think of all of this, it was a lot to take in and she shook her head a little. "Where has she been?" She finally asked as she looked between her aunts. "Why are you telling me this now?" "Well, she's been... its complicated, I'll let her explain that to you," Holiday said with a sigh. "But what you need to know is that she is here and she wants to reconnect with us, and with you. Its up to you though, you're old enough to decide for yourself, do you want to get to know your big sister?" Scootaloo paused for a long moment. She had always wanted a big sister, had even envied the relationship her friends had with their older siblings. While she had that with Rainbow Dash, what was her real big sister like? Was she going to be cool? Was she going to be able to help her fly? What kind of pony was she? What did her aunts even mean by what they had said before. "Well, umm..." She said and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly for a moment. "Honestly? I don't know what to do, I do want to get to know her but... why didn't she come forward before? I still don't get that, I mean we're family..." "She has her reasons, but she wants a chance to make up to you for them," Holiday said softly. "She's a good pony really, I'm sure that you two can at least talk and find some sort of common ground. So, what do you think?" "I'll, at least talk to her, I'd like to get to know her," Scootaloo said and smiled a little. "Its nice to know I do have some more family out there I guess." Holiday and Lofty lead them into the next room where an golden colored Unicorn mare with a red and yellow mane was seated with a pony that looked exactly like Princess Twilight, only with a mane tied into a ponytail and no wings. Scootaloo blinked a little, who were these ponies? "Hey Scootaloo," the golden mare said as she got to her hooves and offered Scootaloo a hoof. "You've really grown, I'm sorry I couldn't have seen you grow up... my name is Sunset Shimmer, I'm your big sister." Scootaloo blinked as she looked her over. Actually she was more surprised that her sister was a Unicorn, but then again her parents had apparently been a Unicorn and a Pegasus according to pictures. She looked up into Sunset's green eyes as she tried to figure out what to say. "Is everything okay?" The pony who looked like Princess Twilight asked and tilted her head a little. "Oh, sorry, everything is fine," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head as something clicked in her brain. "Wait, Twilight told me about you once, you went to that, human world thing she called it right? You're my big sister?" "Yeah," Sunset said and flinched a little as she looked down at her hooves. "I made a lot of mistakes awhile back after you were born, and I distanced myself from my family when I shouldn't have. I'm sorry for what I did and that I couldn't be the big sister you deserved Scootaloo." Scootaloo paused a long moment as her purple eyes met Sunset's green eyes finally. She was still trying to figure out what to say, what to think about all of this, Sunset seemed nice enough but this was really the first time they had met. She sighed a little and looked back at her. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to be angry at Sunset either though. She had heard about what Sunset had done and whats he had done to make up for her mistakes, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all. "Sunset, its okay," Scootaloo finally said as she placed her hooves on Sunset's. "While I do wish I had a cool big sister growing up, I don't hate you for what happened. I'd like to think Mom and Dad wouldn't want us to be mad at each other after all these years." "Me neither, at least I'd hope not," Sunset said and smiled lightly. "Scootaloo, you're a great young pony I can already tell. Maybe, we should try and get to know each other better, what do you think?" Scootaloo smiled a little and nodded as she took a seat next to Sunset and the three of them started talking together. Sunset was a bit surprised at how much really was similar between the two worlds. The Crusaders in the Human world seemed to match up perfectly to the Cutie Mark Crusaders in this one, though she didn't know a lot about the Human World Scootaloo's home life so she wasn't sure how similar that was. Sunset and Twilight told Scootaloo a bit more about their adventures and their friends. When they started telling her about their friends though, Scootaloo's ears perked up curiously. "So, there really are other versions of all of us in your world?" She asked as she tilted her head a little. "Yeah, as far as I can tell its the case, we haven't really compared the two completely," Sunset said with a chuckle. "Except me, for some reason I don't seem to have a counterpart that we've seen so far." "How does that even work?" Scootaloo asked. "I mean, how can there be two different versions of us?" "Well, it all ties into quantum theory really and in particular the idea of the multiverse," Twilight said. "See if in this world ponies evolved, but if the two worlds are sort of counterparts to each other..." "Wow, she really is Twilight, you don't have to keep trying to prove it," Scootaloo said with a chuckle. "But I kinda get what you're saying, sort of. Sounds like something out of a science fiction show or something mind you." "Tell me about it," Sunset said. "But yeah, I know its a lot for you to take in right now but I just wanted to have a chance to connect with you. I, always kind of regretted losing my family like that but I was going through a tough time after our parents died and..." Sunset was cut off when she felt Scootaloo hugging her gently. She blinked a little in surprise and then smiled as she placed her hoof gently on the filly's back. "Heh, I thought you wouldn't be one for hugging." "Normally I'm not, but, you're family," Scootaloo said with a chuckle as she shook her head lightly. "I'll make exceptions for family." "Thanks," Sunset said with a chuckle as she hugged back. "I miss them too you know, mom and dad..." "Yeah, I wish they could be here," Scootaloo said with a sigh as Twilight joined the hug and gave them both a soft smile. "So, you're Twilight's counterpart huh? What brings you here?" "Well, actually, me and Sunset are going to be getting married soon," Twilight said as she placed her hoof gently on Sunset's. "Its actually why we came here, we've got all our friends and my family coming but we wanted to see about Sunset's family." "So, you're inviting me to your wedding?" Scootaloo asked as she looked between the two older mares. "You want me to be part of that?" "We'd love to have you and your aunts be there, yeah," Twilight said as she nuzzled Sunset gently. "Its up to you of course, if you want to come along." "Can I invite my friends?" Scootaloo asked and they blinked a little before nodding. "Sure, just not too many, we don't want it to get too confusing," Sunset said with a chuckle as she ruffled her little sister's mane a little bit. "Scootaloo, I promise I'm going to do everything I can to make up for the past 10+ years I've been gone, I'll be the best big sister I can be." "Thanks Sunset," Scootaloo said as she hugged them both and sighed happily for a moment. Sunset nodded and they hugged the filly back, they were just glad that they were together, as a family. 00000 The rest of the time before the wedding passed quickly as all the preparations were complete. When the big day finally came, Sunset adjusted her gold and red dress a little as she stood at the altar waiting for Twilight to come down the aisle. She smiled a little when she looked out at the crowd at the gathering. Their group of closest friends were making up their bridesmaids while those they had known from school were out mingled with Twilight's family. She chuckled a little when she saw Scootaloo and her friends on the other side of the aisle with some of the other family members. They had brought along their big sisters and the rest of Princess Twilight's friends, yeah, this wasn't going to get confusing at all. "You didn't mention you invited the pony versions of us," Rainbow Dash whispered to Sunset. "Well, Twilight was a given, but... its a along story," Sunset said with a chuckle and a shake of her head. "How do I look? The dress isn't showing too much cleavage is it... I feel like people are staring at me..." "They're staring at you because you look stunning darling," Rarity said with a roll of her eyes as she looked at Sunset and just laughed a little. "Come on Sunset, you've been wanting this day to come for years, are you really having last minute nerves?" "A little," Sunset admitted and shook her head a little. "Its just had to believe that its finally here, it feels like we've been through quite the journey together." She thought back to everything that had come before. Meeting Princess Twilight, fighting the Sirens, meeting Twilight and the whole Midnight Sparkle incident, everything that had happened after. She was finding it hard to believe that today really had finally come after all of that. She smiled a little and straightened out her dress as she looked back at her friends and then back out at the gathering. They were all here to see Sunset and Twilight get married, and she knew that she was ready to take the biggest step of her life. She just hoped that it was really going to be okay. Finally the wedding march began to play as the doors opened and Twilight walked down the aisle on the arm of her father Night Light. Sunset smiled softly as she saw her dress, it was a beautiful lavender color with streaks of pink in it. Her usually frazzled hair was tied up into a neat bun that made her look perfect. Sunset smiled and knew that she had made the right decision as Twilight took her spot at the altar across from Sunset and they took their hands. "Dearly beloved, we have come here today to bring these two young women together in holy matrimony," the minister said as he looked up at the two and gave them a soft, but a little sad smile before continuing. "There are few things in this world as precious as love and I am happy to be able to bring these two together. Now, I believe you have both written your own vows, if you will Ms. Shimmer." "Oh, of course," Sunset said, though she couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about the minister, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "Twilight Sparkle, we may not have met under the best of conditions..." That got a light chuckle from the gathered people and transformed ponies. "But still, from the moment we became friends I knew that we had something special between us," Sunset continued ignoring the chuckles. "You were this amazingly smart young woman who had made mistakes, just like I had when I came to school. But I was able to help you, and you were able to help me through the tough times. We've got a lot of times ahead of us, a never ending journey if you will, and we will always have to make choices, both easy and tough. But I know that I will always have you by my side as my wife." "Ms. Sparkle," The minister continued as he gestured to Twilight. "Sunset, I honestly don't know how I could possibly say everything you mean to me," Twilight said with a chuckle as she looked at Sunset in the eyes. "You're an amazing young woman. You're smart, funny, athletic, brave, and above all else kind, you were always there for me when I needed it, especially when I needed it the most. I've been happier in my time with you than with anyone else. I can't wait to take this journey together with you, because I know that I'll always have the most amazing woman I'll ever know by my side." She picked up the ring which was gold with a ruby as the gemstone and slid it onto Sunset's finger. "With this, I thee wed." She gently picked up the wedding ring which was a silver color with an amethyst in it as the gemstone and slid it onto Twilight Sparkle's finger gently as she smiled. "With this, I thee wed." "If there's anyone who believes these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace," the minister said as they looked over the crowd for a moment as no one spoke up. "Then with the power invested in me, I pronounce you married, you may kiss the bride." Sunset smiled and blushed a little when Twilight leaned in and gave her a long kiss on the lips to the cheers of their friends and family. Sunset couldn't hear them as she just held Twilight in her arms, letting the world around them fade away as they shared their first kiss as a married couple. As they broke the kiss, she smiled as they walked down the aisle together hand in hand. She smiled a little as she saw her friends and family, this had been everything she had ever dreamed of and more. And she couldn't be happier. 00000 "You two looked great up there," Princess Twilight said with a smile as they passed out the cake at the reception and took their seats. "I'm happy for you both." "Makes you want to finally put a ring on Tempest Shadow huh?" Equestria Rainbow Dash asked just as Princess Twilight started to drink her punch when she nearly did a spit take. "What did I say? You two haven't exactly made it a secret that you're a couple." "That's, not the point," Princess Twilight said as they just laughed a little. Sunset smiled and leaned back a little. She was surprised to see the two groups of Crusaders talking and laughing, she hadn't been sure what would happen if the counterparts met one another but it was kind of nice to know that everything was going well. She put her arm gently around Twilight and smiled a little as she leaned back in her chair. It was nice to have a chance to just relax and spend some time with her friends from both sides of the mirror before they had to leave for the honeymoon that evening. She chuckled a little as she wondered how many things they had in common. How much was different, there was still so much she didn't understand about this whole thing but she was just glad that she got this chance as she squeezed Twilight's hand gently. "Twilight, I can't describe how much I love you right now," she said as she leaned in and gave her new wife a gentle kiss on the lips. "I love you too Sunset," Twilight said as Sunset held her close and they just enjoyed the moment of closeness quietly for a long moment. "You know people are staring at us right?" "I don't care, today's our day anyway," Sunset said with a chuckle and shook her head. "Come on, lets just enjoy it before we have to go through all the hassle of taking a plane out of here. I think we should enjoy it while it lasts." "Good point," Twilight said with a laugh as they shared another kiss. "Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry but I need to get going, can you bring Scootaloo home when you leave?" A male voice said and they looked up to see the minister from the ceremony standing there. "Emergency at the Hospital, I'm sure you both understand, but it was a lovely ceremony." "Of course, thanks again for doing the ceremony Dr. Twister," Twilight said with a smile. Sunset blinked a little for a moment, was this the Human World Scootaloo's father? He looked a lot like the pictures she had seen of her own father, but his hair was greying, but he still had that kind smile that she remembered. "Yes, thank you Sunset said with a smile as she shook hands with the doctor. "It means a lot to us." "Of course," Dr. Twister said and shook hands with her. "You remind me a lot of my first daughter, but its probably nothing. I'm just happy to help a friend of Twilight's, I'll see you around, congratulations to you both." He walked off and out the door after a moment. Sunset blinked a little and looked at Twilight who sighed a moment. "His elder daughter Sunrise, she was killed in a car accident when she was only 10," Twilight said with a shake of her head. "I can't be sure, she looked a little different from you, but I think she may have more or less been your counterpart in this world." Sunset sighed a little and closed her eyes. It was weird, but it actually helped a little to know that her father survived in some form or another out there. She looked at Twilight and over at Scootaloo and her aunts and smiled softly. She had her family here and that was what mattered. She had a long way to go on this journey they called life, but she wasn't about to give up on it, especially now that she had Twilight with her. "Come on Twi, lets dance," Sunset said with a smile as she got up. "But you know I can't..." Twilight tried to protest and let out a squeak as she felt Sunset pull her out of her chair and over to the dance floor. As a slow tune began playing, the two started dancing together. Sunset smiled a little at her wife's missteps, but she didn't care, she was just glad to have her there with her. And she'd always be there for her, no matter what.