The airship loomed above them.
"Last chance," Celestia remarked. "This is your last chance to back out of the wedding before the circus really starts."
Rarity snorted, pressing herself against her fiancée until their bodies were touching as they stood side-by-side. "The romantic in me wants to say that it was too late from the moment I looked into your eyes and lost myself in them, but more practically, we both know that I was committed the moment we announced our relationship to the world. Can you imagine the scandal if we called it off now?"
Celestia chuckled. "It would provide decades of entertainment, it's true."
"I'd be ruined," Rarity said. "Persona non grata everywhere I went for the rest of my days."
"You'd be surprised." Leaning down, Celestia nuzzled her beloved. "Lots of ponies would look up to the bad girl who dared to say no to the High Princess."
Rarity rolled her eyes. "I tell you no all the time, darling. For example, when you suggested last week that Equestria's currency should be pegged to the 'cake standard'."
"You just can't understand my genius," Celestia complained, giving her an exaggerated swoon.
"I understand full well your obsession with pastries," Rarity shot back, a smile playing at her own lips. "Regardless, the time for doubts has passed, I daresay. Even if I haven't said my vows yet, it is already 'til death do us part."
"Given the coming insanity, that may be sooner than we both wish," Celestia said dryly. The airship was beginning to descend, guided by a pony at the docks waving a series of flags at it.
"Oh, no you don't," Rarity warned. "If I'm to be committed to this endeavour, then you shall be as well. Besides, I'm reasonably certain that Twilight has a plan to bring either or both of us back from the dead should the need arise."
"She is showing a worrying dedication to seeing this wedding through." There was pride in Celestia's voice as she spoke. "I chose well in making her a high princess."
"That you did," Rarity agreed. "I have no doubts that she will help you lead Equestria into an even brighter future. Assuming the next few weeks don't result in the entire nation burning to the ground."
Celestia shrugged. "Equestria will endure, as it always has, and grow from this experience. I still hope that one day there will be no need for princesses."
"Well, I shall always need you, Your Majesty." Rarity pressed a kiss against Celestia's cheek.
Finally, the ship was docked, and ponies rushed to and fro, getting ready to welcome the visitors. "It's showtime," Celestia said, adjusting her posture until she was the regal High Princess once again.
The main door opened up, and the first guest walked down the ramp. "Greetings, your serene highness," Celestia said, bowing politely. "Equestria welcomes you to— excuse me, you're not the king of the zebras, are you?" The recited greeting died on Celestia's lips as she saw a bipedal avian with an eyepatch step onto the dock. She was wielding a cutlass and scowling at her surroundings, clearly scanning for signs of danger.
"Captain Caelano!" Rarity stepped forward, tamping down her panic at a pirate standing in front of Equestria royalty in the place of Zebrican royalty. "It's so good to see you again!"
"Rarity?" Caelano relaxed somewhat at the familiar face, a cautious smile on her expression. "Heh, long time no see. How're you doing? Are you here for the bigwig wedding too?"
Rarity chuckled. "I should hope so. After all, I am one of the brides."
Caelano's eyes widened. "Wait, you're the one marrying the big pony princess?"
"I am," Rarity replied. "And my fiancée and I were supposed to be greeting the king of the Zebras here. You wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?" Silently, she prayed that the answer wasn't "being held for ransom" or "thrown overboard after we stole this ship." If it was, then there would be plenty of other awkward questions to answer.
Caelano winced. "About that. So, our crew was actually hired by the king of the reindeer to ferry them and their entourage here for the wedding since they don't really have an air force up there."
"The reindeer," Rarity said slowly. "Aren't they at war with the zebras?" A sinking feeling settled into her gut.
"Yup," Caelano replied cheerfully. "So anyways, guess whose airship we ran into during our escort mission?"
"Oh no." Rarity braced herself for the worst.
"Yeah, we're pirates at the end of the day, so when our employer tells us to board and plunder, we do it." Caelano shrugged. "The zebras had no idea what hit 'em, and we managed to take the whole ship with no casualties."
"Oh dear." This was going to be a nightmare to untangle.
"Yup, so once we've got the Zebra King trussed up, the Reindeer King comes over to the usual gloating thing, and, uhh, not really sure what happened from there, but one thing led to another and now the countries are at peace and the two of them haven't left the royal suite in three days." Caelano awkwardly scraped her peg leg against the ground. "From the sounds coming out, you might have to wait a bit until you can do your greeting thing."
Celestia and Rarity stared at her in shocked silence for a few painfully long seconds. Then, Celestia smiled. "That is wonderful news. Thank you, Captain, for helping to broker a peace between these two nations, no matter how unusual the circumstances may have been."
"Uhh, you're welcome?" Caelano still looked incredibly uncomfortable, and Rarity couldn't blame her. "Anyways, I'm still waiting until we can get paid, so do you mind if I hang out around here for a bit? I promise I won't steal anything, and a royal wedding seems like it'd be cool to see,"
"I'm sure we can find some place in the city for you to stay," Celestia said. "Welcome to Canterlot, Captain Caelano. Raven, please see to it that the captain's crew is settled in."
As Raven nodded and led Caelano off the dock to discuss logistics, Celestia turned to Rarity, her smile becoming wry. "Still intent on staying by my side through this madness?" she asked, playfully nudging Rarity. "Not every situation will resolve itself so cleanly."
Rarity nudged her back, then nuzzled her for good measure. "There's no place I'd rather be, darling. Let's wrestle this storm of chaos into submission together."