A happy occasion was soon to take place, another Royal Wedding!
The day was looming overhead, just like a certain recently-crowned lavender princess as Twilight struggled to keep her balance while practicing her new wings.
Her boyfriend, Midnight, also having been crowned royalty, smiled encouragingly as he flapped much more steadily, “Don’t push yourself-”
“Just flap `em really hard!” Rainbow interrupted, as she flapped up out of nowhere.
The sudden appearance along with her forced opinion caused Twilight to react just as Rainbow had suggested (although it were too kind a term for the way Rainbow Dash had said it). The rapid flapping and being taken by surprise caused Twilight to spiral out of control and fall onto a nearby tree. As she hung from the branch she could’ve sworn she heard birds tweeting but it turned out she had disturbed a bird and her nest.
Thunderlane flapped over and helped Twilight, “Maybe not that hard.”
All of them landed in the castle grounds where the friends were watching as Midnight (along with a volunteering Rainbow Dash) had brought Twilight out to practice her flying, and Thunderlane joined them, saying, “But not a bad start, Princess Twilight.”
“Thunderlane, you know you don’t have to call me that,” Twilight assured.
“Why do you protest so?” Rarity spoke her opinion, utterly perplexed by the notion, “You and Midnight have already given up wearing your crowns all the time. The least you can do is embrace your new title.”
“Rarity, if other ponies wish to address us that way, that’s one thing,” Midnight sighed with an irritated roll of his eyes. “But we’re all friends here!”
“I agree. Being addressed as royalty by our closest friends?” Twilight stood next to Midnight and they nuzzled as she added, "It just doesn’t feel right!”
She sighed, “And neither does all this flying business. I'm never going to get the hang of flying at this rate!"
“Not if you spend all your time down here, you won’t!” Rainbow said in a way as to get Twilight psyched up, only for Midnight to shut her mouth with the end of his long lion-like tail.
“And she’ll spend her time practicing with a competent teacher, namely me,” Midnight insisted, earning quite the stink eye from the rainbow-maned blowhard.
“Midnight, let’s try it,” Twilight decided, taking him by surprise.
“Are you… sure, Twi?” Midnight hesitated.
Twilight answered by flaring her wings and planting her hooves firmly, bending down a bit to the position to kick off into the air. Sighing, Midnight shrugged, “Alright!”
He took his starting position next to her, everypony going silent as their eyes widened in anticipation. The sapphire prince and lavender princess then met each other’s eyes and nodded in determination.
With a mighty twin flap, both young alicorns took flight!
Their friends watched from below, cheering.
“Go for it, guys!” “You’ve got this!” “Eeyup!”“Lookit `em go!” “Tha’s what Ah’m talkin’ about!”
They watched the two royals start the maneuver, Twilight whooping, and almost immediately it went wrong as they gasped to see Twilight lose control, her velocity sending her careening through three clouds, their thick softness successfully slowing her down. Twilight coughed cloud when she suddenly realized she’d stopped flapping.
She dropped like a stone, flailing her hooves and wings, screaming!
“Twilight!” Midnight zoomed after Twilight, who managed to keep her wings open and pull-up, barely missing their friends below with an unintentional dive-bombing. Thankfully they ducked and gasped to see Twilight loop de’ loop out of control.
She came very close to plowing face-first into the ground, only for a turquoise aura to envelop her and gently set her down on the ground. She looked to see a worried Midnight hurry over, as did the rest of their friends as Midnight fussed, “Twily! Are you okay?! Any nausea? Did your ears pop? How many wings am I holding up?!”
“Midnight, I’m fine!” Twilight couldn’t help but giggle as Midnight’s worried behavior reminded her of her own when she started to lose her cool. Midnight gave her his hoof and helped her stand up and smile at him thankfully, “Thanks to you.”
“So long as I’m around, I’ll never let you fall,” Midnight promised with a relieved smile and the two nuzzled.
“Ahem!”
They both startled as they forgot their audience, Soarin cracking, “Should we come back later?”
“Soarin!” Blueblood scolded while Soarin, Rainbow, and Spike all chortled.
“Why don’t y’all take a break?” Big Macintosh suggested. “We still got a lil’ time t’ kill `afore we all head back t’ Ponyville.”
“Oh, oh!” Rarity got starry-eyed, “Let’s got to Canterlot Tower; I want to see the new stained-glass window!”
The others nodded and agreed, Midnight and Twilight looked at each other shyly as Midnight said, “I… guess we can go check it out.”
Standing in Canterlot Tower, the friends gathered in front of the new stained-glass window, behold the glory of the new prince and princess.
“I must say, my friends,” Blueblood spoke in a tone of reverence, “the both of you appear quite magnificent!”
“I concur! Oh!” Rarity gasped in marvel, “They’ve really captured the regality of your profiles.”
“I suppose,” Midnight rolled his eyes, Rarity scoffing.
“Oh don’t be so modest, darlings. It’s everypony’s dream to one day wear a crown and have their coronation ceremony preserved in stained-glass for all to see, oh!”
“I beg to differ with you on that, Rares,” Soarin shook his head in a goodnatured way.
“Yeah! Most of my dreams are about frosting,” Pinkie added, licking her lips with a look of dazed desire as she sighed in ecstasy.
“We’d better get going,” Fluttershy brought up, “we don’t wanna miss our train.”
“`Shy’s right,” Big Mac nodded, “AJ an’ Ah’ve both got bushels t’ do back at th’ farm.”
“Oh that’s right!” Applejack facehooved, “An’ if we don’ scoot our caboose we might have t’ miss th’ weddin’!”
Midnight quickly noticed the sad look on Twilight’s face, his own sinking in equal gloom. Neither long faces escaped Applejack’s notice as she went up to Midnight, “Aw don’ look like tha’, big brother! Y’all an’ Twi’re gonna get t’ be a part o’ maybe th’ biggest weddin’ Equestria’s ever had!
“And we’re honored, really!” Midnight assured despite the disappointment he was hiding.
“But this is gonna be my old teacher’s big day!" Twilight added. "I owe her so much and it was her guidance that finally opened my eyes to friendship, so I think it would be more meaningful if all of us were able to attend.”
“Ah, I can see your point, Twilight,” Blueblood understood, “but we all have obligations to see to back in Ponyville, just as the two of you have your new royal duties, which, believe you me, are of no small consequence.”
“Princess Celestia might be responsible for bringin’ us t’gether,” Applejack pointed out the stained-glass window that portrayed all of them (sans Blueblood, Soarin, and Spike) when they vanquished Nightmare Moon.
“But it’s th’ Elements o’ Harmony that connect us t’gether!”
“Not us,” Soarin muttered to Blueblood like a pouty colt, the honorary prince nudging him to keep quiet but Soarin made up for his immature statement by saying, “No ‘royal duties’ can ever come between such amazing friends! Am I right or am I right?”
Everypony all nodded and mm-hmm’d in vibrant agreement. Well, except one, which Soarin addressed, “Right, Pinkie Pie?”
Pinkie was still lost in her frosting-fevered daydreams as she muttered and drooled, “Creamy, creamy frosting…”
Fluttershy hurried over and dabbed her dry, “I think we can take that as a ‘yes’.”
That spurred a round of chuckles and giggles from the rest.
Twilight and Midnight walked their friends to the Canterlot train station, the locomotive’s whistle alerting it was almost time to go.
“We’re gonna work hard and fast so we’ll all be able to make it in time to come to the wedding and see you all!” Pinkie swore before addressing the rest, “Right, everypony?!”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in, my eye,” they chorused and pantomimed the motions of the sacred Pinkie-Promise.
“And we will see you after the celebration for the matter of discussing royal upgrades to your loft décor,” Rarity couldn’t help but squeeze in, showing an art book opened to varying color shades for redecorating.
“ALL ABOARD FOR PONYVILLE!” announced the conductor.
Twilight and the girls had a group-hug while Midnight exchanged hoof-bumps and high-wings with the guys, all the while murmuring their see-ya-laters until they all boarded the train. Even as the train vacated the station platform their friends waved until Twilight, Midnight, and Spike couldn’t see them anymore.
Midnight heard Twilight sigh, and wrapped a wing around her shoulders, “I’m sure they’ll make it in time for the wedding.”
“Yeah, they even Pinkie-Promised!” Spike insisted.
“I can’t help it, boys,” Twilight shrugged. “they’ve only been gone a minute and already I feel like I’m missing something.”
“For the princess.”
They startled to see a mail-pony give a pink envelope to them, which Spike accepted. Using his claw like a letter-opener, he freed the message and read, “‘Dear Twilight, you aren’t missing anything! Your friend, Pinkie Pie’.”
“THAT’S ME!” shouted a hyperactive voice and they looked to see the train disappear into the distance.
Despite another inexplicable yet touching Pinkie moment, Twilight said in a quiet voice, “But I am… I just know it!”
Seeing Twilight look worried bothered Midnight and Spike that they shared a troubled look.
“Check, check, check, check and… check!” Spike crossed several things off the to-do list Twilight had made as they stood in Twilight’s old tower, the fading light out the window hearkening nightfall.
“Lookit that, we’re way ahead of schedule!”
He smiled up at Twilight who was flapping in place, Midnight saying, “The still air has no shape so you have to compensate with your down-stroke, but remember to keep it a steady pace, even as you come down for a landing.”
He demonstrated by flapping his wings just a little faster and for a brief moment as he alighted onto the floor rather gracefully. He smiled up at Twilight encouragingly, “Now you try.”
Nodding, Twilight slowed her flapping rate just enough to come down but as she almost touched the floor she got nervous and flapped just a little haphazardly that she almost stumbled, but Midnight steadied her, Twilight smiling at him, “Thanks.”
“Uh, guys, did you hear me?” Spike spoke up, earning their attention. “I just said we’re ahead of schedule, and y’know the wedding’s not till the day after tomorrow! We could still fit in a quick trip to Ponyville and make it back to finish these last few things with time to spare before the event gets underway!”
“That sounds like a great idea!” Midnight agreed, giving Twilight a smile.
“Yes it does, buys, but…What if something else came up in our absence? What if our return here was delayed and we weren’t here in time to finish the rest of that list?” Twilight was having another of her neurotic moments, her wings flapping, lifting her higher and higher with each worst-case scenario popping in her head.
“What if we lost the list on the way to Ponyville and then couldn’t remember which things we’d done and which things we hadn’t done and then- and then spent so much time trying to figure out what we hadn’t done and what we had done, and we ruined the entire wedding by not doing the one really important thing that we were supposed to- Yikes!”
Twilight felt something grab her fetlock and yank her down to the floor and saw it was Midnight’s tail as he gave her an understanding look. He then placed his hoof over his chest, a raised eyebrow at Twilight and saw him do the same calming technique Cadance taught her and did so as well.
Almost at once, Twilight felt the worry go away, and she smiled at Midnight who said, “Sorry, you were about to hit the ceiling.”
Twilight looked up and then sheepishly at Midnight, as he said, “Twily, I love you… but take a chill-pill already! It’s not good for your nerves.”
“I know, it’s just…These are the first royal duties Princess Celestia has given us,” Twilight insisted. “And after everything she’s gone through she’s finally marrying the stallion she loves! We can’t risk letting her down!”
“And I’m sure you won’t,” said a gentle voice they all knew well and looked to the doorway to see Princess Celestia.
“Your Highness!” Spike and Twilight hurried over to bow but Twilight noticed Midnight had done no such thing.
“Midnight…!” she muttered under her breath, Midnight rolling his eyes but still refused to bow.
“It’s alright, Princess Twilight, and please!” Celestia helped Twilight up, “There’s no need for that anymore.”
“Sorry, and please excuse Midnight’s behavior,” Twilight said kindly to Celestia before throwing Midnight a stink eye, as he pretended not to notice.
“There’s no need to apologize,” Celestia assured, “and I am so happy you will be partaking in what I had almost given up on ever happening.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, as they watched Celestia look out to the castle grounds below.
Down there, they could see Prince Sombra deep in meditation, his horn glowing red as he levitated crystal monoliths around him, moving them at such a slow-pace as to appear they were simply floating in zero gravity, rotating around him like celestial bodies.
“Since that night Luna betrayed our trust and took what should have been given to me,” Celestia sighed sadly, “I regretted my decision to end my relationship with Sombra instead of find the strength to overlook what wasn’t his fault. Even more when it ultimately resulted in him becoming possessed by the Whisperer, and a tyrannical monster my sister and I had to stop… it may very well have been the worst of all my mistakes.”
Twilight was astonished to hear Celestia admitting to making mistakes but she reminded herself that the Princess was still a pony and was just a pony before she became a princess.
“Then when my sister fell to the Whisperer’s poisonous lies, and became Nightmare Moon,” Celestia went on, “I was forced to banish my own sister and while everypony regarded the Summer Sun Celebration as the occasion I defeated Nightmare Moon, it served to me only as an ugly reminder that I could not save my sister from herself…”
“I… never really thought about it that way,” Twilight was astonished for never coming to that realization.
“Then after Star Swirl passed away, I was alone…” Celestia’s mane lost a little of is splendor for but a moment. “My true love, my sister, and the pony I loved as both a teacher and a father. All of them were gone and I stood alone, striving to be the magnificent princess my subjects needed me to be for a thousand years. But then you and your friends were able to restore Nightmare moon to my sister Princess Luna, Midnight, you were able to wield the power of the Crystal Heart to purge the remaining corruptions of the Whisperer from Sombra, and although he is gone, I am certain that Star Swirl would be proud, of me as well as all of you.”
Twilight and Midnight smiled and nuzzled each other as Celestia continued, “And because of you all, I will at long last have what I’d always dreamed of but had almost given up hope that it would ever be. I will have a husband, perhaps even one day my family will grow larger, and it pleases me that you both will partake in the event. I understand it was difficult to see your friends return to Ponyville without you.”
“A bit, but we’ll make do,” Midnight said as he nuzzled Twilight, whose eyes wavered for a moment.
Celestia gently held Twilight’s face up to her, “You may no longer be my student, Princess Twilight, but I hope you know I will always be here if you need me. Just as I hope that the both of you will always be there when I need you.”
Celestia gave them each a nuzzle, which Midnight accepted.
Spike cleared his throat, ruining the moment and pointed out the mail pony, “I think this guy needs you.”
"Uh, delivery for Princess Twilight?" the mail pony held up a letter.
Twilight accepted it, Midnight whispering thank you to the carrier before he took his leave, as Twilight opened the envelope, confetti popping out, much to their bewilderment that it made them laugh for a moment.
“A letter from Ponyville I presume?” Celestia smiled.
“I’ll look into it later,” Twilight decided, putting the letter on her desk. “Spike, where were we?”
“About to call it a night?” Spike tried hopefully.
“We… should probably go over the list one more time,” Midnight knew if he hadn’t suggested it Twilight most certainly would have, much to Spike’s chagrin as he pulled the list out.
“I’ll leave you all to it,” Celestia bade as she left them.
As she made her way back to her royal chambers, she was so lost in reverie that she did not notice something creep up on her before it was too late!