//------------------------------// // Wedding Bells Part 3: 'Till Death Do Us Part // Story: Brony Recon: Ascension // by Freescript the Bard //------------------------------// Shift’s POV All throughout the wedding, I was inundated with oceans of emotion. I felt almost claustrophobic, surrounded by the vibrations of excitement, nervousness, happiness, love, and even the occasional taste of irritation. There were too many ponies around and too many emotions to even pinpoint whose feelings were whose unless I was near enough. “Shift?” Twilight said from beside me. She and I had settled into a spot on one side of the cloth in the clearing, waiting for the ceremony to start. Ben had recently emerged from the cottage with the news that Sky and Luna were almost ready. “You’re crowding me a little.” I realized that the intensity of the emotions had caused me to shrink down and huddle against her for some security, regressing to the same shyness I once had on Earth. “Sorry...” I muttered, shuffling away from her a bit. “Just a little overwhelming for me, I guess.” Twilight’s constant stream of love energy became laced with the undeniable taste of concern. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?” she began to ask. “Would you describe it as a cramped feeling or a sensation of drowning?” At the sudden shift from concern to curiosity, I gave her a look. “I... I don’t know, I just--” I stopped, thinking for a few moments. “Are you analyzing me?” “Psychoanalysis is proven to help with feelings of closeness or stress,” Twilight recited. I chuckled dryly. “You’re so adorkable.” Her hoof struck my chitin hard enough to make me grunt. “I am not!” “Are too,” I countered, nuzzling her neck and making a small, insectine purring noise in the back of my throat. “...and I will never let you forget it.” I heard her sigh as her chin rested itself above my horn. “See? Don’t you feel better?” To my realization, I found that I did indeed feel better. Twilight’s love washed over me, overpowering every other background emotion until it was just a little buzz of static on the edge of my perception. It was like she put up a shield between me and every other distraction, holding me in tendrils of the sweetest taste in existence. “Yeah...” I answered. “Yeah, I do feel better.” “Ahem.” Uh-oh. The barrier of love was suddenly breached by a very sharp taste of disdain and repulsion. It wasn't exactly hatred, but I was no less frightful of who had cleared their throat beside me and was broadcasting those feelings directly at me. Removing myself from under Twilight's chin, I shrank down and gave the invader a sheepish grin. "Uh, heh..." I stammered. "Hey, Shining Armor. Nice day for a wedding, huh?" “It sure is,” the white alicorn replied, giving me a faked smile. I guessed it was more for Twilight than for me. “And how are you, Twiley?” “Excited, for one thing,” Twilight answered, oblivious to the friction between her brother and I. “I could never have guessed I would live to see two royal weddings, much less be a distinguished guest of both. Celestia told me that there hasn’t been a marriage involving an alicorn since before Discord’s era... at least, not until yours, BBBFF.” “To be fair, a lot has happened in the last few years that no one could have guessed would happen in their lifetimes,” Shining chuckled, then waggled one of his wings. “I think you and your friends are just fated to always be right in the middle of it.” Twilight glanced back at her own pair of feathered limbs. “Yes, I suppose we are,” she giggled. “Being the vessels of the most powerful artifacts in living knowledge will do that,” I pointed out. Shining Armor opened his mouth to respond, but was silent as a hush fell over the clearing. Anticipation was suddenly dominating the air as everyone turned to the leading end of the aisle to see Princess Celestia trotting her way to the front. As she did so, we were joined by Cadance, who discretely sat herself opposite me next to Shining Armor. “Sorry,” she whispered. “It took longer than I thought to get Luna into her dress. Rarity wasn’t kidding when she said she fit it exactly to her dimensions.” “That’s alright, Cady,” Shining replied, putting a wing around his wife. Celestia had reached her place at this point, and was waiting patiently at the end of the aisle under the large marble arch. There was a pregnant pause throughout the gathered ponies. “It’s starting!” Twilight whispered excitedly. I looked back at the start of the aisle, along with many others, expecting Skyblaze to follow Celestia down the cloth. But even after a few moments, there was no sign of the pegasus within the copse. It was getting to the point where ponies began to mutter among themselves. I looked around the clearing, trying to figure out what all the fuss was about, and discovered that both Rarity and Ben (sitting on the other side of the aisle near the front) were both grinning knowingly. Before I could wonder what was so amusing to them, a rush of air blew through the space above the clearing. I looked up just in time to see Skyblaze pull into a roll, swooping down as he pulled out of it to land at the front of the clearing to Celestia’s left. The stallion gave the Princess a short bow, then stood at attention. That was when I realized why Rarity was smiling. Skyblaze’s outfit appeared initially to be a modified version of a Royal Guard’s formal white coat with gold trimming. However, the coat cut off at Sky’s midsection and hid nothing of his quill-and-book cutie mark, had no sleeves past the first join in his forelegs, and the wing-holes were cut larger to allow full motion of the wings. It was a military uniform and a flight suit all in one. Rarity had created a suit that reflected both his love of flight and his duty to Equestria. Suddenly, there was a series of gasps from the ponies gathered. There was an unidentifiable taste in the air, one I wasn’t entirely familiar with. I turned away from Sky back to the beginning of the aisle to see the source of the commotion. I was stunned at what I saw. Storm’s POV “It’s...” Derpy, sitting in front of me, breathed in amazement. “...she’s beautiful.” I couldn’t agree more. Princess Luna walked slowly down the cloth aisle, every eye that beheld her staring, unblinking. Without a doubt, it was one of the most breathtaking sights I’ve ever seen. Rarity had outdone herself and then some. Luna’s wedding dress was more silver than white, much akin to moonlight. Her ebony breastplate and crown had been replaced with platinum pieces of far more intricate design; the crown resting just above her horn, settled in her flowing mane, was a single crest than arched itself between her ears, anchoring a headdress of white flowers that looped below her ears; the chestpiece was more complete, and extended down her torso in such a way that the metal curved around the base of her forelegs. From a small anchor on the chestpiece, a silver loop of chain was hung, resting just below her flanks. A long, silvery train was suspended from the chain, not concealing any part of her cutie mark. From there, the train flowed down to the cloth and back another ten feet. Every inch of it was covered in swirling designs that reminded me of Van Gogh’s Starry Nights, each swirl spiraling inward to meet at a small, glimmering, flawless diamond about the size of a button, creating the effect of a cloudy yet star-filled night sky. It captured the beauty and wonder of the night. In short, it fit Princess Luna perfectly. Skyblaze’s POV I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Luna was easily the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Though each princess has insisted, on multiple occasions, that alicorns should not be considered gods or deities, my fiancé’s grace had certainly surpassed anything; mortal, immortal, or divine. It wasn’t just her dress that had me utterly dumbstruck. Sure, Rarity had done some of her best work on it, and it was beyond amazing. But I was surprised to find myself looking for beauty in other things about her. Luna’s eyes were a shade of teal that some say look like an astral color, like raw diamond; but to me it was more like they were wavering, giving off a certain radiance that I could not describe. Her steps as she walked down the aisle were regal from practiced centuries of ruling in formal courts, yet I saw a perk in the way she lifted them. It reminded me of astronauts walking on the moon. It was in her smile that I found the most pretty: it was sincere, thoughtful, and maybe a little playful. There was a kind of... youth... about her, despite her age. My heart fluttered as she stopped opposite me. Am I dreaming? I wondered. It all seemed too fantastical to be true. Here was this goddess of a mare, wearing a silver dress, standing next to me at the front of an aisle on our wedding day. It could only be a dream, part of me began to think. I don’t deserve this. This could never happen to me in reality. I doubt I could ever be loved by someone this amazing. A single tear trickled down my cheek. To my surprise, Luna’s face also held a solitary drop of liquid pride. I tried to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. It has to be real, I thought to myself, smiling wider than I thought was possible. Otherwise, that tear wouldn’t feel so heavy. I got lost in her eyes. Maybe it was my imagination, but I swear Celestia was talking just then. It was all a blur, anyway. I couldn’t recall anything around us, our surroundings dissolving until it only held myself and the mare that stood but steps before me. Personally, I found it rather fitting that she had become the center of my world, when she had been all along. But then she gave me a look of curiosity, and began to bite her lip to hold back a giggle. The world rushed abruptly back to me and reality took hold. Blinking, I glanced around discretely. Everypony was staring at me with anticipation. It didn’t take me long to figure out that Celestia had said something to me. Of course, any witty and intelligent pony would improvise and fall back on what they knew about matrimonial dialogue. I, unfortunately, am not one of those witty, intelligent ponies. Instead, my fall-back was the only sound that meant the same thing universally in every language, both on Earth and Terra. “Huh?” There was a round of restrained chuckles from the crowd as my face flushed red. Celestia’s poker face let out a small bit of frustration. “I asked if you were ready for your vows,” she repeated. “Oh,” I said. “Yes, of course.” “As am I,” Luna followed. Celestia nodded, then addressed the congregation. “As a testament to their bond, they have decided to make their vows in the ancient Archaic tongue,” she stated. “The binding magical nature of Archaic prevents anypony from speaking falsely and holds them to their oaths, else their fortune be forfeit.” Wait, what!? Since when was that a thing? You’d think Celestia would have told me about that before we decided this! Fortune be forfeit? Is that some kinda old-speak for being cur- Hold on, why am I concerned? I wondered to myself. I wasn’t going to lie in my wedding vows anyway, and I love Luna too much to break any promises to her. With a realization, I smiled a little to myself. Besides, I already made these same promises.. “Skyblaze, you may begin,” Celestia offered. I took in a breath, looked at the gathering of ponies, then turned back to look into Luna’s eyes. Slowly, I let my tongue speak for my thoughts as the Archaic flowed off my tongue with more ease than normal Equestrian. ”Luna, my promise to you is not as original as I would like. In fact, I would have rather made up a new one altogether. But I feel like this one really makes everything I want to say concise and clear. I don’t know if you knew, but...” I gave Celestia a glance. “...this is the same promise I gave to Celestia when she found out we were engaged.” The Solar Princess gave me a slightly raised eyebrow as Luna made a curious face. “So... Luna... I swear to always ward you from harm, to never hurt you in any way, to give all my love to you and only you, and be with you for the eons to come, until our time as immortals comes to an end.” I wiped away some of the wetness that now flowed freely from my face. My emotions seemed to think that my cheeks were simply too dry. “In addition, I would like to say... Luna, you are the only one worth spending forever with. You are worth anything and everything. I vow to be with you always, until the very end.” Luna herself had watery eyes as well, though she was better at hiding it than me. With composure still intact, she spoke to me. “You have a very odd definition of concise,” she chuckled. I had a slight laugh myself, both at her remark and the fact that nopony else present knew what we were laughing at. “My mother- may she rest in Elysium -taught me about marriage as an alicorn, an immortal. She told me that whomever I may take as a spouse should be somepony I would be able to tolerate for hundreds of millennia. To be honest, it frightened me at first; whoever I chose would be forever bound to me, deathless and everlasting. But when we met, I found that maybe being with someone for eternity would not be so terrible if that someone loved me as much as I did them.” She paused for a moment to, very subtly, sniffle a little. “Love, perhaps, is something that will outlast even our eternal lives together, then even longer past the ending of existence. So my promise to you is this, my dearest: I will try to make forever as bearable as possible for the both of us.” When we were done, several moments of silence passed between us. Though most couldn’t understand what we had said, many in the congregation (mostly the mares) had to dry their eyes. That was something about Archaic that always creeped me out. No matter how fluent you were in the language, the meaning within seemed to touch your feels, even if you didn’t understand why. Observing that we had finished, Celestia simply smiled and nodded her head. “By the power invested in me by the State of Equestria and my immortal soul, I hereby pronounce Princess Luna and Prince Skyblaze Freescript...” She paused, apparently for effect. “...husband and wife.” She didn’t say anything for a few moments, and the other ponies held their breath. When it began to get a little irritating, Luna and I looked at her with a quizzical expression. Celestia rolled her eyes and chuckled, her troll-face showing it’s ugly head. “Very well... you may kiss the bride.” Actually, from the way I remember it, it was Luna that kissed me, catching me completely off-guard and nearly toppling me over. After a second of surprise, I realized that the pony kissing me was now my beautiful wife, and kissed her back with equal passion. The congregation erupted into applause that was a little more enthusiastic, having been held back by Celestia’s joking pause. I smiled as Luna and I continued to kiss. Entering a similar trance as before, I forgot all my woes about my ascension. If forever meant being with her, then I don’t ever want it to end. >><<>><< Kind Greetings’ POV It was unreal, almost. Derpy had, at one point, leaned her head on my shoulder and put a wing around me. I was thankful that Skyblaze and Luna had insisted that nopony dress up at all (much to Rarity’s dismay) so that I could feel the warmth of her feathers on my coat in the chilly winter air. Luna and Skyblaze remained under the arch, still within their first kiss as newlyweds. At some point, the proximity to the Everfree Forest had caused it to start snowing despite the lack of nearby weatherponies. The cascade of powdery flakes made for a fantastical scene, like a softer substitute for petals in the bright moonlight. “Benny,” Derpy said suddenly from my shoulder. “Look...” Curious, I looked back at Skyblaze and Luna, who had ceased kissing for the moment. At first, I didn’t see anything out of place. But as they started to lean in for another kiss, something caught my attention that didn’t seem quite right. Under Sky’s uniform, at about the center of his chest, there was a very slight silver glow that I wouldn’t have been able to catch if it wasn’t already night. Something similar was present under Luna’s chestpiece, but it was more of a metallic gold light. There was magic involved, but I had no idea what kind. I muttered quietly to myself. “What in Tartarus is--?” FWOOSH! My thought was interrupted as a flash of intense, piercing light struck my eyes, blinding me and everypony else present.