Before I went to Canterlot, I decided to visit a certain mare in Las Pegasus. I teleported to the front door of the Visage hotel and entered, slowly trotting to the front desk.
"I am looking for Chocolate Sweetness -- I have been told she has a private suite on the penthouse floor," I stated solemnly.
The deskclerk bowed deeply before me, then straightened up. "Your Majesty, she left in haste about three months ago. She has not returned since and left no information as to her whereabouts," the mare stated sadly. "If you find her, please let her know we anxiously await her return."
"Thank you, ma'am," I said, somewhat dejectedly. I tried every casino in Las Pegasus, even the ones not on the main strip, only to receive the same response.
On a whim, I recalled that Trixie had told me the performer had been born in Neigh Orleans, so I decided to visit that town to see if I could find her. Her hometown had become built up over the years and there were two casinos on the south end of town. I checked with both of them and found the brown pegasus mare working one of them, still performing her music. It took a bit of searching, but I was finally able to meet up with her.
"Excuse me, ma'am, are you known as Chocolate Sweetness?" I asked her, smiling warmly
"What's it to ya? Who are ya?" she asked, not bothering to meet my gaze. When she turned to face me, her mouth flopped open and closed several times before she regained her composure. "Ah'm terrible sorry, yer Majesty, Ah didn't know!" she apologized profusely.
"Sweets, it is I who should apologize to you. You may remember a certain purple stallion who called himself Flaming Star? Well, believe it or not, he was transformed into an Alicorn, the one standing before you now. I want to offer my sincerest and deepest apology to you for causing you so much distress back in Las Pegasus. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, please do not hesitate to let me know what it is," I stated humbly, bowing to her.
"Ya know, Ah thought it was a bad idea ta bring that ... WITCH of a wife of yers inta mah room. But Ah cain't let that get me down." She takes a moment to look me over. "But if what'cha say is true, there ain't a whole lot'cha can do ta help me. Ah still have money ta burn, and anyways, it was time fer me ta come back home. Ah'm happy now, life moves slower here, an' mah family is here, too. It's enough ta know ya care enough about me ta find me an' apologize ta me. I graciously accept yer apology, Flamin' Star, if that's the name ya still go by."
"It is indeed, ma'am. I am glad to have known you and look forward to meeting you again, perhaps under happier circumstances, hopefully sooner rather than later. You are a very special pony to me, and I will miss you. Once again, I am deeply sorry to have hurt you the way I did," I said, my contrition ringing true.
The pegasus smiled at me and gave me a big hug. "Ah'll have ta admit, Ah'm gonna miss ya too. If ya evah want some friendly company, Ah'll be here waitin' on ya. Hurry back now, ya hear?" she chuckled.
"I'll be sure I will, Sweets. Seeya later, hopefully soon!" I chuckled in return, then POPped to Canterlot Castle's Royal Throne Room. Princess Luna was holding Night Court, though she was looking rather bored since there weren't any ponies who desired an audience at this time of the night. She smiled warmly at me, as though my sudden appearance was enough to break the monotony of the emptiness of the room.
"Princess Luna, I have returned from the other universe, having succeeded in scaring away Chrysalis once again," I stated solemnly. I bowed slightly before her, which elicited a light giggle.
"Flaming Star, your formality is appreciated, but unnecessary. Please remember that we are equals," she chided gently. "You bring good news from another universe. This pleases Us greatly."
"Thank you, Luna. I wish to speak with my wife -- is she here in the Castle?"
"Yes she is. Would you like an escort to take you to her room?"
"I would appreciate that, yes, please."
The Lunar Princess requested one of her guards to escort me to the room Trixie was staying in. There was a part of me that wondered how long she was going to be here or wherever else it was she might be staying. Considering I was in Ponyville General Hospital for a few months, I considered the possibility that Trixie had temporary quarters there, perhaps staying with Twilight. I lost myself in my reverie, my escort remaining quiet until we reached Trixie's room.
"Prince Flaming Star, your wife Trixie is in this room," the guardspony stated flatly, opening the door with her magic. She then turned and trotted back to the throne room. I entered to see Trixie laying on the bed, having fallen asleep waiting on my return. I used my magic to shrink myself down to her size and climbed into bed with her, snuggling her from behind.
"Mmm, took you long enough," she cooed as I wrapped my left foreleg around her barrel, noticing her pregnancy becoming more obvious. I snuggled even closer to her. "I take it you did well over there? Did you kill any changelings?"
"No, we managed to scare them away again. There's a couple of new Princesses over there to ensure they don't return," I stated softly.
"Who are they? Trixie would like to meet them," she mused. A wicked idea came to me at that moment, which brought an impish smile to my face.
"Okay, I would be happy to take you there so you may visit with them. I'm sure they'd be quite interested to see you," I said, trying to contain my amusement.
"Trixie thinks that sounds nice," she mumbled as she drifted off to sleep. As I cuddled her from behind, I ran my left forehoof along her belly. She was only about four months away from giving birth to our foal, but my mind was troubled by certain thoughts I was having, ones mostly having to do with her aggression towards me. When she allowed me to cuddle with her, it was really nice, but many were the times during our travels around Equestria where we'd practically end up screaming at each other. Sometimes I felt as though I were the luckiest pony in all Equestria to have somepony as special as Trixie and other times I wanted to cast a silencing spell on her to get her to stop talking. She could be so annoying when she would get angry over the least little thing.