//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Reception/Good Morning // Story: I Give You My Heart // by lrft4_san //------------------------------// BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The small party of ponies ran about the ballroom, dodging the wild blasts of Pinkie Pie’s party cannon, which was firing copious amounts of party decorations all over the place. Within seconds, the pink pony sat on the floor, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow, feeling satisfied with her hard work; the entire room, which had been completely bare only moments before was now filled with colorful balloons and streamers, and table’s set with light pink tablecloths, plates and silverware. “Weeee!” cried a jubilant Pinkie Pie as she shoved the surprisingly small cannon into one of the corners of the room. “Oooookay everypony, it’s safe to come out now.” With the coast now clear, the party guests began crawling out from their safe places under the tables or behind chairs. “A little warnin’ would’a been nice Pink.” Applejack said as she reached up to fix her hat. “Just look at Fluttershy, you almost scared her to death.” “Oh no, I’m a-a-alright Applejack,” Fluttershy stammered. “I wasn’t that s-scar-oof,” Fluttershy toppled over, her knees shaking too much to keep her standing. “Whoa, easy there girl.” Applejack said as she grabbed a hold of Fluttershy to keep her from falling to the floor. “Come on now Pinkie, tell Fluttershy you’re sor-” Applejack’s words were lost on the pink party pony who had now taken to bouncing around the room, humming a happy little tune. “Ah swear,” the cowpony sighed, shaking her head sadly, “there’s gotta be somethin’ wrong with that pony.” “She is quite eccentric, yes,” Rarity said with a light laugh. While the rest of the guests had begun to settle down at a couple of tables and chat happily amongst themselves, Princess Celestia and Twilight, who had fallen back to discus the events that had just transpired in the cemetery, made finally their way through the large double doors and stared in awe and the magnificently decorated ballroom. “My goodness,” Celestia said as she admired the room, “what a wonderful sight. I must know how this was done in such a short amount of time.” Twilight thought for a moment before a light went on in her head. “Let me guess,” she said, “party cannon?” “Yup, yup, yup.” Said Pinkie Pie as she bounced by. “Follow me princesses; I’ll take you to your table.” The bouncing pink pony led the two princesses down to a long table at the front of the ballroom. “Here you are. Princess Luna and Jet will be joining you whenever they arrive. Come to think of it,” Pinkie said scratching her head, “I wonder where the happy couple got to? Hmmm, it’s a mystery…oh well.” Pinkie Pie pushed the thought out of her mind and bounced off to join Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy at their table. As Twilight took her seat at the head table, she scanned the room; sure enough, the newlywed couple was nowhere to be seen. “Huh, I wonder where they are.” Twilight asked her teacher. “They were ahead of us, so they should be here by…” A hint of pink flushed the young alicorn’s face as a sudden thought came to her. “Wait a second, Princess, you don’t think they went off to do…that?” Celestia gave her student a knowing smile. “I wouldn’t be surprised,” she said with a giggle. “After all, this is their wedding night. I bet we’ll be waiting on them for a while.” But just as the words left her lips, the doors opened again and the bride and groom flew in, landing in the middle of the room, both of their manes were windswept and fell messily in their faces. The two ponies made their way across the room to the head table, and smiled at their friends who filled the room with the sound of stomping hooves and cheering as they welcomed the royal couple. “Sorry we’re late,” Luna said as she took a seat next to her sister, “we took a slight detour on our way here.” “Off spending some quality time alone with your new husband, were you?” Celestia said, nudging her sister in the ribs, and giving her a wink. “Working on making me a new niece or nephew?” Luna nearly choked on the punch that Pinkie had just served her. “What!? No!” Luna felt the blood rushing to her face, turning her a deep red. “Jetfire just wanted to stretch his wings, so we went for a little fly around the city. Nothing else happened.” “I wouldn’t say nothing happened,” Jetfire said with a mischievous grin, “we did stop in your, well, our room to – ouch.” A sharp pain coursed through the stallion’s body as one of his wife’s hooves stomped on his own. “I-I mean, no, nothing happened.” The white alicorn couldn’t contain her laughter. “Relax you two,” she chuckled, “I’m only teasing.” Celestia raised her glass and clinked it with a fork. “Filly’s, gentlecolts, and dragon” she said, “I am pleased to introduce to you, making their appearance for the first time as a married couple, Princess Luna, and her husband, Prince Jetfire.” The ballroom was once again filled with the thunder of hooves on stone floor, and whoops and hollers from the ponies. “I know I spoke plenty during the ceremony, so I will keep this short. Luna, you truly have the most wonderful special somepony; if ever you are plagued by fear or doubt, you don’t have far to look to find somepony who will always be there to remind you just how loved really are. I have known Jetfire all his life and I know that he will make you the happiest mare in all of Equestria.” She gave Luna a hug. “And Jetfire,” Celestia continued as she released her sister, “I cannot express how glad I am that you are Luna’s very special somepony. What I just told Luna I shall say to you as well: Luna will always be there for you when you are having troubles; I know that she will make you a happy stallion. Jetfire, I am pleased to welcome you into our family as my new brother-in-law.” Celestia walked over to Jetfire and embraced him as well. After what seemed like long enough, Jetfire tried to break away, but Celestia held him tightly and brought her mouth to his ear. “If I ever catch word that you have done anything to hurt Luna,” the princess said in a low voice so that only Jetfire could hear, “if for any reason I should find that you are not living up to the vows you made, I promise you that I will personally see to it that that little empty hole in the cemetery will get its occupant back. Understood?” Jetfire gulped as he pulled away slightly and stared unblinkingly back at the princess’ fierce gaze, but then he gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry Celestia,” he said, “I promise to keep to the oath I took when I joined the ranks of the Night Guard, and the vows I took tonight and do everything possible to ensure Luna is both happy and safe; I love Luna too much to let any harm befall her.” Celestia smiled as she released Jetfire. “You really are a great stallion, Jetfire. I know that you’ll live up to your word.” Celestia then turned back to the little group of ponies, raising her glass once more. “A toast, to the happy couple. May their lives be filled with much love and joy.” “Here, here,” came a chorus of cheers from the ponies. “Now, I know it’s been a long day, and I’m sure everyone’s hungry, so why don’t we bring out the cake?” “Yes please!” shouted Pinkie Pie who had resumed her bouncing in place. A few minutes later a pony wearing a white smock and chef’s hat wheeled out a large three-tiered cake topped with miniature plastic figures that resembled Luna and Jetfire. “Ooooh,” Pinkie said as she watched the cake being wheeled by. “I’ve been waiting for this all day.” The pink pony suddenly got up from her table and began charging towards the cake. “Don’t worry you delectable confection, Pinkie’ll make this quick and painless.” “Pinkie no!” Shouted several voices as nearby ponies dove, trying to stop the sugar hungry pony from devouring Luna and Jetfire’s wedding cake. … It had been a wonderful reception; other than the fact that they had to practically wrestle Pinkie Pie to the floor to keep her from getting to the wedding cake before the royal couple had had a chance to cut it, everything had gone off without a hitch. After the guests had enjoyed large helpings of cake, Luna and Jetfire took to the dance floor while Pinkie Pie ran the music. Everypony had been having a good time, but now, as the party moved into the wee hours of the morning, things had begun to die down. Not wanting to be worn out for when the time came to raise the sun, Celestia had excused herself hours before, along with Shining Armor and Cadence, who wanted to catch the late night train back to the Crystal Empire. Earlier in the night, Applejack had tricked Rarity into a punch-drinking contest and now both ponies were passed out and slumped over their table. Fluttershy, who was not used to staying up so late, had also fallen asleep at her table and was having happy dreams of caring for her critters. The only party guests who were still going strong were Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie who were out on the dance floor, drunkenly moving to the fast paced music. Luna and Jetfire were still sitting at their table listening to Twilight who had been more than happy to regale them with tales of her and her friend’s triumphs over the many foes they had faced over the years. Jetfire found the story of how the six ponies first met Discord to be particularly entertaining. “Ahhh, Discord,” he laughed, “I remember him. It was a little hard growing up with him around, what with cats turning into trees, and the thunderstorms that appeared randomly indoors, but thinking back on it now, it was really funny. Tell me, did he make it rain fruit punch again?” “Actually, it was chocolate milk.” As horrible an experience as it had been to deal with the trickster draconequus, she couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous the whole situation had been. “I’m just glad he’s reformed now. He’s really been quite helpful, albeit difficult to work with.” The ponies laughed again, except for Twilight who covered her mouth with a hoof, stifling a yawn. “I don’t know about you two,” the young princess said, “but I think I’m about ready to hit the hay.” She looked around at her friends. “And I should probably see about getting those three to bed as well.” “Will you be returning to Ponyville tonight?” Luna asked. “No, your sister provided rooms for us, so we’ll be leaving sometime tomorrow afternoon.” “I see, well I hope you enjoyed your stay.” Luna glanced at the three ponies, “Would you like some help getting them to their rooms?” “Thank you, but I should be alright.” “Nonsense,” Luna said stamping her hoof down, “it’s the very least I could do to thank you for putting on such a wonderful ceremony and making this the best night ever.” Luna walked over to the table where Applejack and Rarity still lay slumped over and levitated them onto her back.” “Here, let me take one of them for you, Luna,” Jetfire said as he jumped from the table and rushed over to assist his wife. Thankful to be relieved of some of the weight, Luna levitated Applejack onto the stallion’s broad shoulders. “Shall we go?” “What about those two?” Jetfire said, indicating the two ponies who were still out on the dance floor. “Don’t worry about them,” Twilight said smiling and rolling her eyes in the direction of her friends, “they’ll wear themselves out eventually. I’ll come back and check on them once we’ve got these three in bed.” The purple alicorn walked over to Fluttershy and gently levitated her off the floor and draped her over her own shoulders. “Well then, shall we.” Luna bowed her head in agreement, allowing Twilight to lead the way. In the hall of on of the upper levels of the castle, Jetfire caught up to Twilight and gave her a warm smile. “I didn’t get to say it before, Twilight Sparkle,” he said in a low voice, “but I want to thank you for permanently reuniting Luna and I. That really was quite an impressive bit of magic.” “Thanks Jetfire,” Twilight said, giving the Stallion a modest smile, “but I can’t take all the credit; the spell would never have worked if you hadn’t asked Luna to marry you.” Jetfire thought for a moment. “I suppose you’re right,” he finally said, “but still, there’s something that’s been bugging me: Starswirl’s letter said that he was never able to get the spell to work for himself, so how did you know that you could get it to work?” “To be perfectly honest, I didn’t.” Twilight gave a nervous laugh. “I had no idea that Starswirl had failed in using the spell, but now I think I might know why. You see, there was something in his words that I think explains what worked for us. Remember how he said something about the ceremony being forced and their words of love weren’t sincere? I think that that was the key.” “How so, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked as she caught up to the two ponies. “Since you two didn’t know about the affects of the spell, the vows you took were words said out of pure love for one another. In other words, since you weren’t trying to reunite permanently, you spoke sincerely from the heart and thus were able to succeed where Starswirl failed.” Jetfire smiled again. “Well, whatever the reason,” he said, “I’m glad we finally get to live the life that we were denied so long ago.” The stallion nuzzled up against his wife, carful not to wake the sleeping ponies that still lay across their shoulders. He looked over and noticed Luna slumping a little. “We’d better get these ponies to bed, Luna, you’re looking a little tired.” The princess didn’t want to admit that she was feeling exhausted, but she nodded her head and yawned; it wouldn’t be too long before she passed, tired from all of the excitement. … When Luna woke the next morning, the sun was still low in the sky. She sat up in bed and stretched her legs and wings, still feeling a little worn out from all the activity from the day before. There had been many happy moments in Luna’s long life, but none of them could have ever compared to her wedding. Not wanting to greet the new day alone, she smiled as she turned to her left to wake her husband. Luna felt the smile melt away from her face as she found the spot where Jetfire had slept was empty. She started to panic; had the spell failed after all, or had the whole thing been a dream? She jumped from her bed and saw her wedding dress and shoes lying on the floor; no, Luna thought, it wasn’t a dream. The princess of the night felt her heart sink like a stone in her chest; Twilight had been wrong, the spell had failed. Luna trudged wearily onto the balcony, sank to the floor and broke down in tears. She new it had all been too good to be true, but something inside her had hoped that when she woke, she would be greeted by the sweet scent of Jetfire’s cinnamon mane. But there was no scent, no stallion, no happy little life waiting for the two of them. A noise in the distance caught Luna’s attention, raising the princess out of her anguish; it was the sound of approaching wings. At first Luna thought it was her sister coming to meet her after raising the sun. But as the figure grew closer, the soft morning light reflected off the orange wings of the stallion who waved a hoof to the disheveled princess on the balcony. “Good morning Luna,” Jetfire said, as he set down beside his wife. “I hope you slept we-” “You idiot,” Luna said, punching Jetfire in the side. “Do you have any idea how scared I was? I…I thought I had lost you again.” Jetfire pulled his wife in close and wrapped his wings around her. “I’m so sorry Luna,” he said, “I was having a hard time sleeping, so I thought I would go out and enjoy the night air.” Luna wiped the tears out of her eyes. “You could have at least told me you were going.” She sighed as the warmth of Jetfire’s wings seeped into her, calming the heavy pounding of her heart. “I was going to, but you looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you.” He lifted Luna’s face to meet his and gave her a light, reassuring kiss on the lips. “You don’t have to worry, I’m not going anywhere; not this time.” Luna put a forehoof behind Jetfire’s head, and brought him into the deepest kiss she could muster. When she finally let him go, she buried her face in his mane and cooed as his scent tickled her senses. “I love you Jetfire,” she whispered. “I love you too.” Jetfire let go of Luna and started walking back inside. “I know it’s still a little early,” he said, “but would you like to go down and grab some breakfast?” Luna gave the stallion a sly smile. “Actually, I was thinking we could get an early start on our honeymoon.” She walked passed Jetfire, swaying her flank seductively, before settling back down on the bed. “Come, my husband,” Luna said as she patted the empty space on the bed, “make love to me.” “It would be my honor, my beautiful wife.” Jetfire smiled as he walked back inside and joined Luna on the bed. Neither pony had any idea what the future held for them, but then again, they didn’t care. All that mattered was that they could put their loneliness behind them, and live together, holding on, forever in each other’s hearts.