Chapter Fourteen...
I was the first to wake up, having been laid in such a position that the sun shone straight in my eyes as soon as it rose. I grunted my dissatisfaction at Celestia's wake up call. I left Luna sleeping as I went to check on Skye. She had grown overnight, and now was about the same size as Pip. I knew griffons were big, but I didn't think she would have grown so much overnight. She slowly woke up and looked straight into my eyes, making happy gurgling sounds.
"C'mere." I said as I lifted her out of her cot, cradling her close to my chest. "Lu, wake up!" I said, trying to wake up the very much oblivious mare. "Lu, wake up, you gotta see this!"
"Wha? What time is it?" She muttered, stubbornly refusing to open her eyes.
"That doesn't matter, Skye's grown!" I said excitedly. She suddenly sat up, and seeing how big Skye had become she just smiled.
"She has, hasn't she? She's going to grow up into a big strong griffon, aren't you Skye, aren't you?" she said, breaking down into babbling baby speak. When Luna had finished gushing over our child, she stood up and retrieved her jewellery from the mantelpiece. "Okay, lets get her fed then go get Tia." I went over to the barrel of food, and opened the tap on the side. Once the bottle was filled, Luna took over. Holding Skye in her forelegs, she gripped the bottle with her magic and gently fed her. I took Skye from Luna, and putting her over my shoulder, burped her. Skye started giggling once the trapped gas was released. "Awww, she's just so adorable! I'm glad we took her in Max, she's going to be a wonderful addition to our family!" Luna said, taking Skye from me so I could get dressed. As I pulled my trousers on, I heard a familiar voice coming from outside the window.
"Why did we fly the entire way here when we know they wouldn't have left without a good reason, Dash?" Complained Elliott. I walked over to the window and stuck my head out.
"Down here you guys!" I shouted up to them. They looked down to see me hanging out of a window.
"Max, get down from there!" Called Luna from behind me. I jumped down from the window ledge and opened the doors to the balcony. I wondered why I didn't just go out there in the first place.
"Come in guys, we're just getting ready to go wake up the mythical beast known as a 'Sleeping Tia'." I joked, and I heard Luna laughing behind me as she sat on the bed with Skye. "Guys, I don't believe you have met the newest addition to our family. Meet Skye." I said, pointing over to Luna as Rainbow and Elliott landed on the balcony
"Is that a baby griffon?!" Dash squealed, running over to Luna without even thinking about why a griffon was part of my family.
"Yes it is, Dash." Said Luna as she carefully moved to show Skye to Dash. They then erupted into a fountain of baby speak, and Elliott turned to me.
"Erm, last time I checked griffons weren't born from ponies Max." Elliott said, utterly confounded by the fact that my daughter was a griffon.
"We adopted her, idiot." I said, facepalming.
"OH! Why didn't I think of that?" He said, looking as much of the fool as he had just made himself.
"Because you're an idiot?" I sighed. "Now, I think Celestia has had enough of a sleep in. Let's go!" I said, tapping Luna on the shoulder. We all set off walking through the palace, and upon reaching her bedroom, the doors flew open as Celestia was about to go looking for us. "Hey Tia, we were just coming to wake you up!" I said cheerily as Luna handed me Skye so she could talk to her sister about making the address. They disappeared into her bedroom, and I looked at one of the guards quizzically.
"Sorry, only royalty are allowed to help plan an address to the people; for security reasons. Don't worry though, they only need to work out where to hold it." He said, explaining the situation.
About 30 minutes later they came out of the bedroom, looking pleased with themselves.
"So, where are you going to make the address?" I asked as they came out.
"We're going to the throne room, we managed to convince the guards to swing the walls out for the first time in about 3 centuries." Luna explained. As Rainbow and Elliott began to walk off, Luna shouted to them. "We couldn't possibly do this without my mare of honour!" Dash turned around, stunned.
"Or my Best Man!" Elliott just looked at me with his 'knew it' face on.
"Come on, I'll get everyone here." Celestia said. We all walked towards the throne room, and as we arrived I heard an unhealthy grating sound, and the entire front wall of the palace hinged outwards. Elliott, Rainbow and I stood there like blithering idiots. There was a loud crack as five bewildered looking ponies appeared in front of us. "So glad you could make it girls," Celestia said, grinning mischievously. They walked up to the thrones we were arranged around.
"Princess? Why did you bring us here?" Twilight asked,
"I couldn't let my most important subjects miss me announcing my sister's wedding!" Celestia said, still grinning.
"Where's Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked, worried about her friend.
"Over here!" Rainbow said, waving. "I'm Luna's mare of honour, can you believe it?" she said, bouncing with excitement.
"Oh... wow!" Cheered Fluttershy, quiet and gentle as always. "Oh, is that a baby you have there Max?" She continued, genuinely excited.
"Yes, she's only little thought so be quiet." I said, bending down so Fluttershy could get a better look Skye.
"Awww, she's so adorable!" Fluttershy whispered. "I hope she doesn't grow up to be like Gilda." She looked worried.
"Don't worry, she's got the best possible group of people to grow up around." I said, patting the frail pony on her head. She smiled, and just then the residents of Canterlot began to arrive at the palace.
After all the ponies had arrived, Celestia began to make the address.
"Citizens of Equestria, I have gathered you here for an important announcement. On this day, I hereby announce that my younger sister, Luna, shall be married!" A huge cheer. "The stallion who has brought us to this most joyous of times is one of the most passionate, caring and kind-hearted ponies you will ever meet." Another cheer as Luna and I stepped forwards. Celestia had told me to be in my pony form for this, and I saw why. "These two souls are to be joined in wedlock soon! But, among all of their acts, there is one that is good enough to bring you to even the darkest of ponies, as these two have put themselves out and taken in an orphan." Another round of cheering. Celestia raised her hoof to silence them. "The most amazing part of this story is that this orphan, having been rejected by its mother, is not a pony." A chorus of gasps went up from the crowd. "They have put themselves out for a baby griffon." Half of the crowd was enraged by this. "QUIET! I will hear nothing said about my niece! Unless you really want to know what the moon is like..." Celestia threatened, displaying her terrifying anger. "As I was saying, this griffon will be treated as you would treat any other pony. She is the ward of the three, and as such shall not be harmed in any way!" She turned to Fluttershy who was holding Skye, and gingerly took her. "By the sun, may you bring joy and prosperity." Celestia said, touching her niece on the forehead. She handed her to Luna.
"By the moon, may you have knowledge beyond words and power beyond bounds." Luna said, touching Skye on the forehead before handing her to me.
"By the power of Life, may you live long and prosper." I said, touching her on the forehead. Skye snuggled closer to my chest and I completely lost track of where I was, and just stood there looking at my daughter, wonder in my eyes. As I handed her back to Celestia, a small stream of white light came from Celestia's horn and touched Skye just next to her left eye, leaving a stripe of gold across her brilliant white feathers. Even Celestia herself was amazed by this. Another beam, this time of purple light, came from Luna's horn, leaving another mark just below Celestia's, this time of dark purple. I felt everyone's eyes upon me, and I realised that my power came from my blood, not my horn. I made a small cut on my left leg with the razor-sharp tip of my horn, and a small string of blood came out and touched Skye on her forehead, leaving a third mark, just above Celestia's, of a deep red. I closed the wound once the blood stopped flowing to her head. I took her back from Celestia and let the words flow from my mouth. "By the power of the three, may you become the wonder you deserve. I hereby name you SKYE!" I said, shouting the last part as the power of the words flowed through my voice.
"By the three I name you CELESTIA!" said Luna, evidently feeling the flow of power too. Celestia looked at her sister, smiling at her sister's choice of name.
"By the three we name you REYNOLDS!" We shouted in union, a huge balloon of light exploded from Skye, as she became the living heir to our powers.
"By the powers of Harmony, we bless you with our traits!" The elements shouted from behind us. We turned to see them floating into the air, the Elements themselves appearing around their necks. A huge rainbow burst forth from Twilight's crown, flowing into Skye, making her the most powerful being in existence. She just giggled happily at the stupid look on my face and I snapped back to reality.
"I guess that just about wraps this up guys, thanks for showing up!" I said to the crowd cheerily as they all stared in awe at the sheer amount of power emanating from the ten of us on the throne platform. The all cheered, and started filing out, talking between themselves about the happenings of the address. Elliott walked up to me and asked the obvious question;
"What the..." He started. I shoved a hoof in his mouth.
"No fouling of the language around my daughter please." I said. "No idea what just happened. I think Skye just stole the show though, don't you?"
"No doubt!" He said, jumping up to give me a bro-hug. "I'm proud of you buddy. But why do you have to be so darned tall?" He complained, making light of the fact I was as tall as Luna.
"Dunno, this is the body I ended up with." I said. The last of the ponies left, and I changed back to my human form. I went to Celestia and retrieved my daughter.
"I guess lunch is on me?" Celestia sighed, pretending she had to pay for all of our eleven lunches. We all laughed and walked down to the kitchens to get some service going.