Tomorrow the parents of Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle would be arriving to see their son for the first time in over two years. Today however, the entire empire was abuzz with gossip. The king and his adviser were going to make a big announcement today in front of the crystal heart. According to tradition, only announcements that would effect the hearts of everyone in Crystal Empire were to be made in the presence of their guardian jewel.
Nearly everypony living in the small city-state had gathered around the heart to hear whatever had been deemed so important by their king and the dragon that was their savior twice over. Stallions, mares, and foals alike swarmed around them and the heart on this day, a truly impressive turnout considering they had only been informed in the late afternoon of the previous day.
Shining stood in front of the heart in a new uniform Spike had the royal tailor cook up as a surprise. It was much like his old red uniform, but was now the same shade of purple as his favorite armor with polished gold accents. It also proved easier to move in than before, a triumph of form and function. Spike himself sported a large silver armband inlaid with one of the miniature crystal hearts in the center of the seal of the empire, marking him as an official of the Crystal Empire.
All the ponies talked amongst themselves until Twilight who was at the front of the crowd checked her watch. At noon exactly she used her magic to send up a small flare, silencing the masses. Spike nudged Shining forward with a subtle, confident smile that told him Spike believed in him.
After a few deep breaths Shining spoke up to his ponies using magic to amplify his voice.
"Ponies of the Crystal Empire, not long ago I was in a deep depression as you all know. Spike, the dragon you've all known and loved since he was a child helped me with that. I will always have fond memories of Cadence, and will always love her. However, she was more than a mortal mare, she will live on wherever there is love in the world. She would never forgive me if she saw me give up on love just because I could no longer be with her. Spike saved you all from me, but soon after he saved me from myself." Shining told the entirety of the empire, not bothering to hide the tears in his eyes.
Spike took that as his cue to speak, they had opted for winging this so now was as good a time as any.
"I've promised my time to the empire, a promise I intend to keep. I've performed my duties to the best of my abilities, but in the course of doing so I came to a realization. I have developed feelings for my longtime friend, your king Shining Armor. To my surprise over a short amount of time he began to reciprocate those feelings. He and I have been an item for a little over a month." Spike admitted, eliciting a combination of surprised gasps and girlish squeals from a surprising number of mares.
Looking over the crowd, unsurprisingly the majority of them were confused. A fair number wore smiles, and some teenaged mares had pushed to the front of the crowd wearing T-shirts bearing Shining's cutie mark with green flames coming off of it. They were talking to each other very fast, and very excitedly. Their grins rivaled Pinkie's with ease, several were even hopping up and down like mad.
Something about a cannon? Spike thought to himself as he tried to hear what they were saying.
"I know this might come as a bit of a surprise, but we know that you, the ponies of the empire care for us greatly. As such I must ask for your forgiveness, I fought to keep our love a secret because of my own insecurities. I feared that you might disapprove, and become unhappy again, that I would have failed you again. Spike and my sister have shown me that I should have had more faith in you all. I apologize for once again letting my personal problems interfere with my rule. I can only beg your forgiveness for doubting you." Shining explained sadly, apologizing was something he was becoming far too familiar with doing.
The ponies around him all looked upon their crying king once again in silence. Slowly but surely, each of the ponies expressed their own words, one after the other with increasing frequency. Each had something different to say but the message was clear We forgive you.
Spike surprised Shining by pulling him up and into a kiss for all to see, Shining didn't struggle this time and just went with it. The crowd watched and cheered for their king and hero's happiness. There wasn't a dry eye among them. The fangirl ponies in the front practically fainted, the one at the head of the group's nose started bleeding profusely and her glasses steamed to the point you couldn't see her eyes.
Flashbulbs went off for the entire length of the kiss, every newspaper in the empire was sure to have a picture of the scene on their front pages. Reporters were trying to squeeze through to get close to the royal couple. One crystal pony mare wearing a press badge managed to push her way through the crowd. She was a unicorn, somewhat of a rarity in the empire as it was almost entirely earth ponies. Her cutie-mark was assorted tiles with letters on them. Her coat was ruby red and her mane and tail were snowy white with a single yellow stripe in each.
She levitated a notepad and pen in front of herself, readying it for the answers to her inevitable barrage of questions.
"Your Majesty, Lord Spike, I'm Wordplay here for the Crystal Chronicle. Would you mind answering some questions the ponies might have?" The newsmare asked with a practiced smile.
"Uh, sure?" Spike replied uncertainly. He had very little experience dealing with the press this closely.
"Do either of you foresee any difficulties in maintaining a relationship and an empire simultaneously?" The mare asked in a warm, but somehow indifferent tone.
"We've been together a month now and our recent ventures are still rising in profit. Everything is running smoothly and our relations with Equestria are mended." Spike replied trying to keep his cool.
"And what about the news that the ponies recently granted the status of nobility have been relieved of their titles? Was that a joint decision?" Wordplay continued.
"As a matter of fact it was, the so-called nobles were prioritizing their own standing over the betterment of the empire. I agreed with Spike that they needed to be gotten rid of." Shining answered.
"Hmm, well what of the empire's future? I realize that it's a bit early on to think about such things, but if you do marry will Lord Spike rule after you die and for the rest of time? I've been told that dragons continually grow stronger with age unlike ponies, eventually nopony could stop a dragon from doing whatever it wanted. Is this somehow a ploy to gain control of the crystals and jewels of the empire, a dragon's favorite meal?" She asked, her voice gaining volume and a sense of urgency with each question. She was obviously trying to stir up controversy among the ponies.
Spike and Shining were both practically fuming from the accusations, both nearly ready to snap. Before they could yell at the mare the ponies retaliated for them. The crowd began berating her for her accusations and threw paper balls and drink containers at the reporter. As much as he would have liked for it to continue, Spike draped a wing around her to keep her from being pelted by garbage. The ponies immediately stopped their onslaught.
"You all need to calm down, we get that she rustled quite a few jimmies just now but that doesn't mean you can throw trash at her. She's free to ask whatever she wants, as is her right to do so. Despite my own dislike for her I've sworn to help the empire and I can't abide by you all ganging up on any citizen." Spike said with determination.
The mare's expression turned to one of deppresion. She suddenly felt very bad about her intense questioning of the dragon currently providing her with cover's character. She floated the press badge from around her neck off of herself and let it fall to the ground with the rest of the garbage.
"I'm quitting journalism, I'm tired of upsetting ponies with invasive questions to get good stories. I was actually counting on one of you to get angry at me so I could sell my story and get out of the business." The mare admitted guiltily.
Spike looked her over, she seemed genuinely upset and the trash in her mane added to her downtrodden image. Spike craned his neck over to Shining and whispered in his ear. The mare watched as her king's expression changed to surprise and then skepticism. He whispered something back to the dragon who seemed momentarily annoyed but whispered back again. Shining blushed for a moment before nodding quickly several times. He cleared his throat to make an announcement.
"Ponies of the Crystal Empire, as punishment for slandering the crown Wordplay is to be stripped of her journalist's license. In addition she is to be given the position of the Royal Adviser's Assistant since Spike was the main focus of her unfounded accusations." Shining bellowed with authority.
"W-what? Why would you give me another job after I tried to use you for money?" The mare asked totally surprised by the decree.
"Because you came clean about it and regretted your previous choices." Spike answered in a level tone as he pulled his wing back. He leaned in to take a drinking straw and lid from her mane and to secretly whisper to her.
"Plus with you around I can spend some more time with Shining." He whispered slyly.
"I suppose I could do with a change of pace, and I don't really have a choice huh?" Wordplay said smiling weekly.
"That's the spirit! Your get your own room in the castle and fair pay. You need to be in the dining hall by seven every morning, and you report directly to me. Sound good?" Spike asked with a toothy grin.
"Yes, I promise to work hard." Wordplay saluted.
"Good your first job is to get moved into the castle and learn the layout as soon as possible. You start Monday, so get your affairs in order and if you need anything get a hold of me through the guards." Spike explained before shooing her away to return his attention to the other ponies.
"Okay everypony thank you for attending, and we appreciate your support. Thursday will still be open court, and we are looking for new financial backers so come on by. You may go about your day as usual and we apologize for taking so much time from your busy lives. Just remember, no matter what happens the empire is our greatest concern." Shining Armor told the mass of equines with his magic amplifying his voice.
Several ponies congratulated the pair personally before leaving. As the crowd dispersed Twilight rejoined them and they started walking back to the castle entrance. Conversation started up on the way.
"That seemed to go fairly well even with the interruption. But do you two really think giving her a job in the castle was a good idea?" Twilight asked glancing away from the path ahead to look to the boys.
"Not really, but Spike promised to keep her in line and every time she makes a mistake I get-" Shining was cut off by Spike wrapping his muzzle shut with his tail.
"We are not talking about that with your sister again. Anyway she deserves a second chance and I've always wanted an assistant of my own. I've spent the majority of my life as one so it makes me feel... I dunno, validated? To finally have my own, Owlowiscious was basically just a small-time helper and not such a good conversationalist." Spike replied.
"Well I think it was a very nice thing to do. As soon as she dropped the harsh journalist act she seemed pretty unhappy." Twilight said as she tried desperately not to think about whatever Spike had promised to do for her brother.
"For now we've gotta get ready for Mom and Dad's visit tomorrow. If I know them they'll be here bright and early." Shining said as he internally groaned at the thought of getting up even earlier than usual.
"I already have a plan drawn up for a tour of the empire's newest attractions and triple checked the supplies for tomorrow's dinner. The cleaning staff has also been instructed to make the rooms they'll be staying in completely spotless." Spike explained as they reached the enormous double doors of the castle.
"Remind me why you need an assistant again?" Shining joked as he marveled at his lover's astounding planning skills and efficiency.
The guards opened the doors and the trio walked in to find something they hadn't expected to see waiting for them. Twilight Velvet and Night Light were already there surrounded by several large pieces of luggage.
"Hello boys, hello Twilight." Night Light said happily.