The wedding finally went off without any sort of trouble; at least, no trouble out of the usual amount that can stem from a couple joining in marriage, and a royal couple at that. After the vows were said, the rings were exchanged, and the first kiss was made, Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence stepped onto the proclamation balcony, where they could be seen by literally thousands of ponies. Each of those ponies was yelling in joy and offering their congratulations to the new couple. The two of them couldn’t be any happier than they were now. In a couple hours’ time, the reception was held in the Canterlot Gardens, and it started off with a blast as a certain DJ-PON3 was jockeying the tables.
“This may not be meh usual crowd,” Vinyl Scratch yelled in her Trottingham accent to Pinkie Pie, who was standing next to her, “But I’d do anethin’ for Twilight and you lot since you help me get mah tech back from Bunsen Burner and his group’a mooks!”
From across the reception garden, Twilight waved her hooves in their direction to signal them. Pinkie Pie looked over to Vinyl, “I think Twilight says she wants to do the song she dedicated to her brother and Princess Cadence now!” Pinkie squinted back in Twilight’s direction, who began to exaggeratedly nod her head at the pink pony. “Yup! It’s time!”
“Alright then, switching gears!” Vinyl yelled as she wrapped up the song that was being played at the moment. Taking the needle off the record player, she juggled her records with her magic until she found the right one for the occasion. As she put the new song on, she tossed a spare microphone in Twilight’s direction with her magic, which she then caught with her own telekinectic grasp. As she began to sing, Twilight looked to her brother and new sister-in-law with a deep and beautiful smile. The couple had not been told what was happening, so they waited patiently for Twilight to explain.
Love is in bloom
A beautiful bride, a handsome groom,
Two hearts becoming one
A bond that cannot be undone because
Love is in bloom
A beautiful bride, a handsome groom
I said love is in bloom
You're starting a life and making room for us!
Princess Cadence covered her mouth with one of her hooves, and tears of joy flowed from her eyes. Taking advantage of the moment, Prince Shining Armor took his wife and swept her off her hooves in a dance that neither of them would ever forget. As they spun in their swirling pattern across the dance floor, the crowd around them whistled and hollered their approval, but they hushed themselves when Twilight continued her song.
Your special day
We celebrate now, the pony way
Your friends are all right here
Won't let these moments disappear because
Love is in bloom
A beautiful bride, a handsome groom
I said love is in bloom
You're starting a life and making room for us!
Princess Celestia was watching the event take place from a distance, and she was filled such a deep happiness for everyone involved. She was certain that this wedding ceremony would be unforgettable. Fortunately, it was now unforgettable for all the right reasons. She heard the soft clip clop of glass shoes from behind her, and she turned to see Princess Luna coming up to her.
“Hello, Tia!” the Princess of the Night said, “Did I miss anything?”
“Actually,” Princess Celestia replied, “You missed a great deal more than you may realize, but it can wait until tomorrow.”
Princess Luna sighed in disappointment as they watched the newlyweds, who were now leaving for the wedding carriage. “If only I could have been here for the Wedding itself. Curse my sleeping in on this day! I’m sure it was full of excitement.”
Princess Celestia shook her head, “You have no idea, Lulu.”
Suddenly, Princess Celestia grunted and her balance weakened. Alarmed, Princess Luna reached out with her wing to steady her sister.
“Tia,” she whispered harshly, “Are you alright?”
Princess Luna than looked to her sister’s horn, and she saw the tip of it was blackened, as if it had been deeply scorched,
“What is wrong with your horn?”
“It’s nothing, Luna,” Princess Celestia said as she regained her balance and turned her head away from her sister.
“What’s wrong with you, Tia?” Princess Luna continued to whisper, “Please tell me!”
“I said it’s nothing, Luna!” Princess Celestia said a little too harshly.
Princess Luna fidgeted from the forceful tone that her sister had used. The Princess of the Sun turned her head back to look at her sister in the face; her own face was devoid of emotion, and her horn was perfectly white.
“Everything is fine, Luna,” she declared with practiced calmness, “I’ll explain everything that you missed tomorrow.”
Princess Luna was still somewhat startled by what she had seen, but she trusted her sister to explain everything as she promised. She nodded and slowly said, “Very well. I’m just worried for you, Tia.”
“It looks like we missed the carriage driving off,” Princess Celestia abruptly said as she looked back out into the gardens.
Princess Luna whirled her head around just in time to see that the wedding carriage had indeed already crested the nearby hill, and had gone down the way towards the exit out of the Gardens, and back into the city to the newlywed’s temporary hotel suite.
“Confound it.” Princess Luna said in frustration, “I hardly experienced any of the wedding at all, and the one moment I could possibly have seen a part of it in person I’ve let slip away!”
Princess Celestia chuckled, “I’m sorry, Lulu. There is a chance that you can still see the wedding though! You could try asking one of the wedding coordinators for a video recording to watch at some point.”
“Perhaps I will,” Princess Luna spoke to herself more than her sister. After that, she left her sister’s side to hunt down one of these so-called ‘video recordings’, “Good night, Tia! See you in the morning?”
“Yes. See you in the morning, and good night, Lulu!”
The Princess of the Night looked back at her sister with a little bit of worry as she trotted in to the main reception area. Princess Celestia smiled as her sister continued to watch her, but as soon as she was out of sight she slightly grimaced to herself as another bout of pain rushed through her body once again. She looked back towards the castle, and she slowly began to make her way into its interior, balancing herself against the causeway wall with an outstretched wing as her brace. She felt horrible for having to lie to her sister about her health, but she just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell her sister anything until she was absolutely certain of what her physical condition was. She still wasn’t sure what was happening to her, but she knew it had something to do with that extra substance that she had felt inside of her when she had been in that Changeling cocoon. She had thought her biology would have broken down the alien fluid by now, but it was obviously extremely resilient to her regenerative energies. She didn’t have a personal physician, since she had never been sick in her nearly fourteen hundred years of life. It wouldn’t really matter anyway, she reckoned; she was certain that any pony doctor would be absolutely flummoxed by what was happening to her. There was only one being in the world she was absolutely sure would be able to help her. She hadn’t talked to her in a little while anyways, so perhaps there was no better time than now.
The Princess teleported herself into hers and her sister’s private study chambers in the Royal Canterlot Library. It was a modest sized room furnished with a few soft seats, a small table to rest several books on, and a fireplace that was nestled into a nearby wall. On top of the mantelpiece to that fireplace sat a small but ornate sphere. The sphere was mostly transparent glass except for the brass that acted as the container for the glass. Inside the glass was a shallow cavity, and within that cavity was a small concentrated cloud of yellowish green lights. The Princess slowly approached the mantelpiece and lifted up the sphere with her magic. She undid a latch on the side of the sphere, which opened up the cavity to the outside world. The yellowish green lights flew out of their container until the entire contents of the sphere was free. Princess Celestia placed the now empty container on the nearby table, and watched as the particles began to touch and envelop her own body. She felt herself slowly ebbing into a comforting place. It was a pale, grey space full of memories of a wonderful and beautiful mind. It was the home of the one being in the entire universe that Princess Celestia trusted above almost everypony, except perhaps her sister. As she fully found herself in that grey place, the Princess turned around and saw a human woman with pale skin and red hair. The woman smiled to her and embraced her lovingly.
“Hello, my little Dawn.” the Maiden said happily to Princess Celestia.
She smiled back to the beautiful women, “Hello Mother. It’s good to see you again.”