It was the next day after Twilight, Cadance, Luna and Celestia had made their decision. They were back in Canterlot, sitting at a table in a high tower, across from Paard and Venture, who had been selected by parliament to oversee the marriage.
“So, have you made your decision?” Paard asked, leaning forward slightly and propping his head up on a hoof.
The other princesses remained still, but Twilight gave him a nod; “We have Duke Paard. I will be the bride.” Twilight said simply, smiling slightly.
Paard and Venture turned to one another locking eyes. They stayed silent for a moment before turning back to her and nodding.
“Then it’s done. We shall begin preparing for the wedding immediately,” Paard said with a nod, preparing to stand up.
“Wait! Before you do, I wanted to… to ask something,” Twilight said, standing up a bit too quickly.
Paard and Venture both turned to her. Venture glared slightly, while Paard cocked his head to the side. “Yes?” Paard asked.
Twilight blushed for a moment. Everyone in the room was staring at her now.
“I…” She cleared her throat. “I was wondering if maybe I and my friends could…” She hesitated for a moment. She turned to look at Cadance who smiled at her. She straightened her back and furrowed her brow. “I was wondering if my friends and I could plan the wedding instead.”
Paard’s eyes widened for a moment, while Venture frowned even deeper.
“Absolutely not. This will be done by the Parliament,” Venture growled, leaning forward. Celestia and Luna both turned to each other and frowned. Cadence opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by Paard.
“Veto’d,” Paard said, turning to Venture with a frown. Venture gawked at his partner momentarily as Paard turned to Twilight with a slight nod. “I don’t see why the princess shouldn’t be allowed to plan her own wedding.”
Venture stared at his partner for a moment, jaw dropped. After a moment, the senator let out a low growl and grit his teeth.
“You have parliament’s blessing to plan your own wedding,” Paard explained until his smile dropped. “On the condition that you include a bedding ceremony.”
Instantly the room turned to shock.
Twilight’s jaw dropped as her face turned red. Celestia and Luna meanwhile could only stare down at Paard in equal parts shock and horror.
“A bedding ceremony? What is this 600 AC?” Cadance asked shooting up.
“The main point of this wedding is to produce an heir to bring the Changeling Empire under Equestria as a personal union. As such, it only makes sense to get them to work as soon as possible, alongside consummating the marriage immediately to prevent the changelings from requesting annulment later down the line,” Paard explained impassively, an act which made Venture smirk.
Twilight stammered over her words for a moment as Cadance growled, grinding her teeth.
Paard merely stared back at her with stern eyes as his face remained emotionless. “I don’t get all the aggression and hatred towards these decisions. I myself had an arranged marriage and a bedding ceremony and I turned out fine.” He said, turning to stare down at Twilight.
Twilight stared back up at him, unable to move. She paused to think. Bedding ceremonies were an old tradition. Originally from the Kingdom of Gryphonstone, it made it’s way to Equestria several centuries ago, and became a common practice among nobles on their weddings. The basic principle of a bedding ceremony was that the bride and groom would be escorted to a bedroom after their vows - sometimes even immediately afterward - and put to bed together, before being left alone to consummate their marriage.
Consummation was important in those days, and there were even laws in place to say that a marriage unconsummated would be made null and void.
Twilight frowned, thinking. If she accepted, she’d be able to bring her friends in to help her plan the wedding, which was something of a dream of hers, but the bedding ceremony would be… unpleasant to say the least.
On the other hand, if she didn’t accept the wedding planning would go to Venture and other members of the government, who would likely try to sneak a bedding ceremony into the wedding either way. It was a lose-lose scenario.
Twilight straightened her back and looked Paard in the face.
“Very well, I accept the condition,” she said, a frown on her face. Cadance, Celestia and Luna all instantly turned to her with a gasp. Venture’s eyes widened in slight shock, his smug smile disappearing.
Paard merely smiled in response, giving a slight nod. “Wonderful, we have an agreement. The wedding will have to happen in the next few weeks, so please plan expediently.”
Twilight let out a slight sigh as Paard stood up from his chair and turned to leave the room. Venture, for his part, turned his attention between the Duke and the princesses several times, before growling and standing up, following after his partner.
Cadance turned to her sister-in-law, a frown on her face.
“Why did you do that? We could have challenged them on that?” Cadance asked, sitting up slightly.
Twilight merely shook her head in response. “If we had fought back against the idea of a bedding ceremony, they would have gotten parliament involved, and there would’ve been a high chance they would have stripped us of any power or oversight we have over this. At least by accepting their condition, I have control over everything else involving the wedding,” she said, shaking her head.
Cadance blinked twice before shaking her head and slumping in her chair.
“I’m sorry Twilight,” She said, turning to her sister-in-law. Her eyes were downturned as if she couldn’t even look her fellow princess in the eyes. “I’m trying to help but…”
Celestia leaned forwards to join Cadance in staring at Twilight. “We all are, but there is little we can do.”
“It’s impressive that you are managing to stay so cool and collected during this,” Luna said, with a dry smile. “Were I given that choice, my emotions would have led me to make the wrong decision.”
“I know, I know,” Twilight sighed, shaking her head. With a deep breath, Twilight straightened her back. “Now I just have to tell my friends, I probably should’ve let them know before I planned on roping them into this…”
“You have good friends, Twilight Sparkle, I’m sure they would be more than willing to help you,” Luna smiled.
Twilight nodded back at her. “I’m sure they would too.” She looked at her fellow princesses with a smile. Cadance and Luna mirrored her face, but when she looked to Celestia, she saw that she wasn’t smiling…