Chapter Fifteen...
"Hold still Max, it won't be comfortable if I get this wrong!" Said Fleur de Lis, seemingly the only other designer in Equestria who could cope with my human form. "Just a little bit longer!" She said, putting the last few pins into my suit. "Got it!" She said as she put the last pin in. I climbed out of the suit and relaxed. "No slouching! This is my biggest wedding ever!" She said, planting a hoof in my back to straighten me up.
"But Fleur, I always slouch!" I complained, looking to her husband for help. He just looked at me knowingly.
"No buts! I'm also a model, and I intend to make you look perfect, with out without your co-operation!" She said. I just sighed, knowing that there was no arguing from that point on. She used her magic to sew my suit, and I had to admit it looked good. "Now, get into this and don't move!" She commanded. I got into the suit, and as soon as I stood up again, she started manipulating the material with her magic to make sure it was just right. I was just about to start slouching again when Fancypants warned me;
"Don't slouch, she will hurt you if you crease it." He said, and I took his advice, not doubting that she would. She was worse than Rarity for this stuff.
After 15 minutes of being motionless it was show time. The big moment. I was practically crapping myself. Fleur led the way to the cathedral where the ceremony was going to be held. Thankfully, her shop was nearby.
"Remember, no slouching, and if you so much as try to do anything that doesn't look clean and crisp then I will personally see to it that you never have any foals of your own..." She growled as we entered. The cathedral was massive, and was divided in half. The left side was decorated in deep purples and blacks, where as the right was decorated with fiery reds and oranges. As Fleur guided me down the isle I was terrified. I saw Celestia standing at the altar. Fleur went and sat down on the front row, and Celestia gestured to a chair to the right of her, on the sunny side. It made sense, I suppose, because Luna would want to be in her own half of the chapel when she married me. I saw a book on the table, and thanked my lucky stars that it wasn't like a Catholic marriage from earth. I wouldn't have been able to stand in front of so many people for such a long time. I sat down in the chair, and Celestia reached a hoof out and rested it on my shoulder, trying to calm me down. I sat there until the door opened behind me, which was my signal to stand. I remembered Fleur telling me not to look at Luna until she was next to me. After an excruciatingly long time, she finally arrived next to me. She was wearing her usual royal jewellery, and surprisingly, her dress was made up of Nightmare Moon's plating, with Rarity having sewn the dress on and around them. She smiled at me, and she seemed like she was taking it in her stride.
"Okay, here we go!" Said Celestia, and I was relieved that she wasn't being too formal about it. "Right. Under the worthy eyes of the sun and moon, blah blah blah, I grant you the right to become united in wedlock. Do you object, Max Reynolds?"
"No, your grace." I responded with a sly wink. Celestia giggled a bit.
"Same again, do you object, Princess Luna?"
"No." Said Luna.
"Okay, boring bit over. Would the bearers of the rings please bring the rings to me?" Celestia said. This was a lot more informal than I had expected, but ponies were a lot more laid back about such things as love. Rainbow and Elliott brought forwards two boxes, placing them in front of Celestia. When she opened them with her magic, everypony in the chapel was stunned. In Luna's box, there was a hanging earring with a large tear-shaped ruby mounted in it. The ruby glowed with an internal light, making it even more entrancing. Inside my box, there was a band, seemingly made of amethyst with diamonds set around it. My jaw unhinged itself, as my Gollum-like obsession with gems finally broke out of the cage I had put it in. It took all of my self-control to prevent myself from grabbing the ring. Luna saw me straining and chuckled as she lifted the ring out of the box with her magic and slid it onto my finger. I let out the breath I had been holding in, and took her earring and placed it through her ear, through the same hole I'd put her engagement earring through. I didn't need to numb the pain at all this time. "I now pronounce you husband and wife." Celestia said. "Finally! I hope you weren't disappointed with the lack of formality, but we're all friends here so what the hay?" We all laughed, and Fluttershy came up to the altar holding Skye.
"Thanks for looking after Skye, Fluttershy. I hope she wasn't too much trouble?" I said, taking my daughter from the frail little pony.
"No, she was behaving perfectly." She said, waving goodbye to Skye. Skye waved back.
"You're growing quickly aren't you?" I said, and Skye nodded. It had been about 5 months since she had been named officially, and she had been growing quickly. She was now about twice as big as Pip. She still couldn't speak, but that wasn't surprising for a five month old baby. Luna's blessing seemed to have given her quite a good grasp of body language and she could communicate through simple motions. "You hungry?" I asked. She nodded her head, grinning. I walked over to Fluttershy. "Where did you put her food?" I asked, and Fluttershy turned and looked at me like I was accusing her of something. "Don't worry, Skye's just hungry." Skye backed me up by nodding her head furiously.
"Oh, its just over here..." Fluttershy said as she lead us over to the side room where the reception was going to be held. Side room was an understatement as it was on the same grand scale as the rest of the cathedral. She led me over to a table just behind the DJ's decks, where the sound was as quiet as it would get, and took one of the bottles of food off the table. I fed Skye the food, but she didn't look very contented. She pointed over towards a large platter full of carrots. I smiled at her.
"You want to try some carrot?" I asked. She nodded her head. I carried her over to the table where the carrots were, and picked one up. I held it up to her beak so she could eat it. She snapped as small piece off and swallowed it. She squeaked as it hit the back of her throat. I laughed. "Don't take such big bites silly!" I said, sitting her on my lap. I snapped the carrot into several small pieces and helped her eat them. "Think you can try to pick one up Skye?" I said, wondering if she could use her talons to grasp properly. She nodded, and reaching a talon towards my outstretched hand, she picked a piece up gently, and raised it to her beak. As she put it in her beak, a huge smile split my face, and I hugged her tightly. "Well done!" I said, and put her back on my lap. Luna walked into the room just then. "Show mom what you can do Skye!" I said, putting another piece of carrot on my palm. She took it, less tentatively this time, and put it in her beak. She broke into a massive smile when she saw Luna's look of adoring pride.
"Awww, you're growing so fast..." Luna sighed as she walked over and kissed her daughter on her forehead. "Max, do you want me to send for a nanny for Skye?"
"No, I'm okay looking after her. I'm not one for parties anyway if you haven't noticed yet." I said.
"Putting your daughter first, even at your own wedding. You're the best father anyone could hope for." Said Grimtalon as he walked through the door. "Do you mind if I see her eye-mark? It's unique on every griffon, and they're born with them."
"Really? Skye wasn't, hers appeared when we blessed her." I said, looking at the kind old monarch.
"Oh? That only happens to griffons with no place in our society." He said. "But, she's a princess of another kingdom now, so it makes sense." He sighed.
"Wow... she wasn't meant for griffon society?" I asked, shocked at the revelation.
"I guess, but whatever, she's your daughter, and that is all that matters." He said, patting Skye on the head. "But, I got them presents I promised. For Max, a griffon war-ring charm, and for Luna, a lovely mountain's cusp necklace!" I took the charm, shaped like a small circular saw blade. Thankfully the edges were blunted so Skye couldn't hurt herself. Luna's necklace was a string of ice-like crystals joined by small links made of stone. It glittered in the light, and you could easily have mistaken it for a string of giant diamonds. Skye was entranced by the sound the charm made as it jiggled around against my house keys. I had gotten rid of my keys from Earth long ago, and these keys were for my home in Ponyville. I was a bit paranoid at first, worried by the thought that someone could walk into my house, so I had a lock put on each of the external doors. The locks also came in handy for stopping an adventurous Skye from going outside and hurting herself. I jiggled the key-chain in front of her face. She giggled as she reached for it an missed, but I had my other arm around her so she didn't fall off my lap and hurt herself. "Careful Skye!" I said as she reached again, scratching my arm with her talon. I healed the cuts pretty quickly. "Skye, your talons are really sharp, so please be careful!" I said, trying not to scare her, just to get the message across. She looked into my eyes, looking slightly hurt but knowing what I had said was true. She nodded her head, but brightened up again as I started to jiggle the key-chain again...