//------------------------------// // 49. Our Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 // Story: Secrets of a Royal Guard // by Anzel //------------------------------// In keeping with unicorn tradition, Crystal and I parted ways the evening before our wedding day. She’d gone home to Velvet and I’d returned to the quarters that I vaguely recognized as mine. Sleeping alone wasn’t that fun. Doing anything alone wasn’t that fun once you get accustomed to other ponies being around. Years of living in comfortable solitude had been easily undone by just a few surrounded by friends. I’d come to learn that there wasn’t anything much better in life than friendship and love. But, being at home without anypony else had given me time to finish my love letter for the ceremony. That was something Crystal wanted to do, and that was fine with me. I’d had to dig my dress uniform out of the back of the closet since it rarely got use. Generally, I preferred my ceremonial armor but that wouldn’t do for today. My wife-to-be and I had compromised there. With my uniform in a suit bag, I flew over to the palace and landed out in the garden. There were ponies everywhere tweaking decorations, place settings, and other small details. It was an overwhelming scene. The palace gardeners had worked long and hard to grow a line of rose bushes into a horseshoe around where the ceremony would take place. At the head of the garden was a white, wooden archway that had matching roses woven into vines. I didn’t know if it was exactly how Crystal imagined it, but it seemed perfect to me. There was also a table with the guest book Crystal and I had selected. And of course, by Crystal and I, I really mean her and my enabling nod. It was more like a photo album, though, with little white cards that fit into slots on the pages. A sign instructed guests to write down their wedding wishes for us. Crystal had said it would be more fun than a regular guest book. Enabling nod agreed. Willowy Tempest galloped over. “You can’t be here!” “It’s my wedding day,” I replied. “I don’t care! Groom and groomsponies are upstairs in the officer’s club. Do not come out until I call for you.” I snorted. “When did you become the wedding planner?” Willowy moved behind me, set both her forehooves on my rump, and started pushing me towards the door. At least, she tried. “Raven is in the wedding,” she huffed. “I’m covering things. Now you will comply, or I’ll go get Upper Crust. She’ll fix you.” I relented with a roll of my eyes and trotted forwards. “Fine, fine. I’ll be in the officer’s club. For Crystal, not because you threatened me.” “I don’t care!” she called before galloping off in another direction. “No! NO! Those don’t go there!” The glass doors that separated the garden from the palace were all open and, despite it being winter, it was pretty warm. There wasn’t much cloud cover and the sun was shining exactly where it needed to. It paid to know the princesses. On my way to the officer’s club, I stopped in at Sunny’s office. Her door was open like usual and there were several voices inside. “It’s fine!” Azurite squeaked. Sunny huffed. “No, it isn’t! Your breastplate is loose. Come here. Soarin, catch her!” There was some scuffling and chuckling. I poked my head in. “Hi?” Soarin had Azurite around the barrel while Sunny fiddled with the buckles of her breastplate. The little unicorn’s armor had always been ill fit. They just didn’t make regulation armor in her size, and I guess she’d never wanted to have a custom suit made. Sunny tugged a buckle. Azurite gasped. “There!” Sunny said with a huff. “Hi, Silent Knight. Big day.” Soarin let go of Azurite with a sheepish grin. “Sorry.” She glared at him. “You are not!” Then she smiled at me. “Hi, Silent Knight!” “Hello. How is my arch of sabres? Do I need to be concerned?” I looked between the three of them. She shook her head. “Nope! You’ve got me and Captain Rook, Azurite and Radiant Orchid, and finally Lieutenant Brook and Vice Colonel Soarin bringing up the rear.” I put on a blank expression. “Had to go Navy, eh?” Soarin gasped in mock offense. “What’s wrong with Navy? Why, I—” Sunny grinned before cutting in, “Nopony else would do it, so I found him some armor.” “Then I’m honored.” I clapped Soarin on the shoulder and chuckled. “Thank you all for this. Remember, no interruptions today. You’re an arch of sabres and a security detail.” Azurite’s horn illuminated with her magic, and she drew the smallest sword I’d ever seen from where it was concealed. “No problem. If anypony gets out of line, I’ll take care of them!” I chuckled. “I’m filled with confidence.” “Don’t worry,” Sunny said. “It will all go fine.” Soarin nodded. “She’s right. Especially with all the security you have around here. They actually asked for my pass. Me!” Azurite turned and let her sword drop on the floor. Sunny hopped back and out of the way. “Aww, it’s okay,” the little mare said as she softly patted Soarin’s shoulder. “You’re still famous to me.” Sunny’s golden magic wrapped around the little blade and flew it over to her desk. “Anyway… why don’t you go upstairs and get ready and let me worry about this stuff? You’re off duty. You’re just a stallion getting married today.” She was right about that. I was a stallion getting married today! “You three have fun. Don’t be late, either.” “Oh, I won’t be!” Sunny said with a grin. “I’m the lucky filly that gets to slap Crystal on the a—” Azurite’s hoof covered the golden mare’s mouth. “We have NOT agreed on that yet. I think it should be me.” Soarin cleared his throat. “We talked about this. Sunny and I are just a little concerned about your ability to handle the sword.” “I can handle my sword!” Azurite squeaked and then looked around. “Wait, where is my sword?” Slowly, I backed out of Sunny’s office and headed upstairs. Perhaps I should have Crystal wear some chainmail under her dress. Miley Hooves and Div were standing outside of the door to the officer’s club in their ceremonial armor. When I approached, they stiffened to attention. My brow arched as I glanced between them. “What is this?” “Security detail, sir!” Miley said cheerfully. “Security for who?” “For you, sir,” Div put in. I blinked. “Why do I need security?” Div snorted while Miley shook her head. “No, sir. You misunderstand. We’re to keep you here.” “I’m not going to meddle with the wedding!” “We’re cold hooves patrol, sir,” Div admitted. Cold hooves? They were joking! I was going to marry this mare today. “I don’t need a cold hooves patrol.” “Orders are orders, sir!” Miley said a little too happily. “Whose orders?” Div smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” I glared at them both. “Yes. Yes, I would like to know! I’m your commanding officer.” Miley set her hoof on my nose and softly shushed me. “Don’t fight it.” I blinked at her. Div looked on in horror, his head slowly turning to Miley. “He’s going to kill you and I’m not going to be able to stop him.” Miley took her hoof off my nose and hugged me tight. “I’m so happy for you.” With a chuckle, I hugged her back. “Thanks, Miley. See you out there?” “You know it, boss!” “You two have fun.” I patted them both on the shoulder and then went into the officer’s club, where I found Runic was swatting at Winterspear’s hooves. “I’m fine!” he grumbled as he fought against her attempts to straighten his tie. Winterspear glared at him. “You’re not! It’s tied wrong.” Runic’s tie was, in fact, tied wrong. I’m not sure how he’d tied it, but it was, more or less, looking like a noose. “Leave him be, we’ll fix it closer to showtime,” I called, hanging up the suit bag that held my uniform. “Where is everypony else?” “Hi, Silent Knight!” Runic chimed, looking my way. Winterspear settled back onto her forehooves and replied, “Shining Armor will be here soon. Iridescence is down with the mares making sure Dot is settled. Also, I know it’s last minute, but Dot brought a friend.” I waved a hoof. “That’s fine as long as they don’t wreck the wedding.” “How’re you?” Winterspear asked, coming over. “I’m great. How are you?” She looped her forehooves around me and squeezed her cheek to mine. “Filled with emotions. Mostly love and mushiness.” “I see that,” I replied before hugging her back. Then I whispered, “Did you search Runic?” She nodded. “He’s clean.” “Good, good.” She kissed my cheek. “Okay, you relax, I’m going to take care of your uniform.” I shook my head. “I can do that.” “Yes, you can… but you’re not going to. Runic brought his airships, so go play.” That certainly seemed like a good idea. Or at least a fun one. “Alright. Runic! Set up the table.” “Already done,” he replied. That didn’t seem to check out. The tables were all empty with just a white tablecloth on them. “Are you sure?” He eagerly nodded and waved me over to one table in particular. “Watch!” He took the tablecloth in his hooves and tugged it away. “Happy Wedding!” This table was absolutely not one of the normal tables in the officer’s club. It was square like them, but the middle had been sunk down about twenty centimeters into a play area. On the rim, there were cup holders and places for things like dice and chips. “What’s this?” I asked. “Your wedding gift! It’s the latest in gaming tables. The play area is down below so we can set up a game, play, and when Crystal is ready for us to stop, we just put the top on it and the game disappears!” I set my hooves on the smooth, dark wood that framed the play area. “This… Runic, this is amazing. Thank you!” He grinned and put a hoof around me. “You’re welcome!” “How did you get this in here?” “Uh… well, I broke in last night and—” I cleared my throat. “Let’s just play.” He quickly nodded. “Yeah, let’s just play.” An intense battle of skill and tactics followed. Where Runic attacked, I defended… but not as well as I would have hoped. An hour and a half later, my flagship was burning, my escorts had been destroyed, and the two cruisers I had left were still trying to come around. Shining Armor stood next to me while looking down at the table. “I hate to say it, Lieutenant, but I think you’ve been defeated.” “I’m going down with the ship!” I reached out with a wing and carefully tipped my ship over. “Congratulations, Runic.” Runic beamed, his own wings flaring out in victory. “Thank you! My new strategy of overwhelming escorts seems to have worked!” I nodded. “Yeah, they’re so hard to hit and keep up with.” Shining Armor lightly stroked his chin. “This game needs pegasi boarding crews. That would take care of those escorts.” “Oh, that would be fun!” Runic leaned in toward us with interest all over his face. “Yes…” I grabbed a few napkins off the bar and a pencil to take notes. “And maybe some unicorn guards, too, that could fire in other arcs. We could start developing another set of rules for that.” “Yes!” Runic huddled next to me. “We could even use it as a training tool,” Shining Armor added. “Think of the value we’d bring.” Iridescence cleared her throat. “Stallions.” I could barely glance up from my notes. “Hmm?” “Aren’t you forgetting something?” She arched her brow. Runic waved a hoof. “It will still be fun even if it’s more realistic.” Winterspear slipped over next to Iridescence. “Right, but I don’t think that is what she means.” Shining Armor tilted his head. “Earth pony crossbows? I mean we could include them, too, depending on the ranges.” The two mares looked at each other and sighed. Winterspear lightly flicked me in the face with her wing. “You’re getting married in less than an hour. Are you really going to create a new set of rules right now or do you, perhaps, want to put your uniform on?” I looked towards where Winterspear had laid out my uniform. It was immaculate. The dark blue jacket contrasted beautifully with the silver cuffs, collar, and buttons, as well as the red sash that would drape over my shoulder and across my chest. On each side of the collar was a pin of my rank insignia that were polished to an above-regulations shine, like two of Luna’s stars. I couldn’t imagine it looking any more perfect. With slow precision, I dressed myself. The uniform was not something I wore often. When I’d been a cadet, it was required, but I’d always been an armor pony. My father had said that once you stopped wearing your armor, you started being a desk guard. I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I wasn’t going to find out. Winterspear, Iridescence, and Shining Armor started to carefully fuss over my uniform. Medals were straightened, buttons were polished, the sash was pulled tighter. I imagined that was what it must feel like to be a model at one of those high society fashion shows. “Here we go, almost done,” Winterspear said before slipping the full-sized Celestia Cross over my head. I gave the award a glance and, for the first time, didn’t feel shame or guilt. Make no mistake, I’d still trade it in a heartbeat to bring back any one of the ponies lost, but this was my reward for saving others. Not a reminder for failing some. Perhaps I could take a little pride in it and the universe would forgive me. Iridescence leaned in to kiss my cheek. “Okay, I want you to stand perfectly still while we get ready. We all know you’re the best at that.” Shining Armor chuckled and added, “Consider it an order.” “Yes, sir,” I replied, stiffening to attention and putting on a blank face. If there was one thing I was the best at, it was standing guard. While I did so, I reflected on how far I’d come in a few short years: from a pony who had no friends and barely had any interest in so much as talking, to one that couldn’t imagine a life other than the one I had. Iridescence had found a part of me I didn’t know existed. Winterspear had returned herself to my life in a way that was similar to when we were foals. Then there was Runic. From the corner of my eye, I watched as Iridescence and Shining Armor held him in their magic while Winterspear tied his tie appropriately. He was my cousin and my friend. The insane to my calculation. How dull things would be without him around. Safer, yes, but dull. Finally, there was Shining Armor. A pony from a good family with every advantage in the world. Yet instead of letting that ruin him, he earned everything he had himself and, when he saw another pony struggling, he stepped in to be more than a boss. Now, he was one of my groomsponies. At the end of the day, it all came down to one thing. Careers were important. Honor, duty, and all of that mattered. Friendship and family matter more, though. That was how a pony got through all of the dark times. I’d been through three battles, lost ponies, lost a friend, lost my father, and who knew what else. I’d tried to weather all of that alone… but that was foolish and had almost destroyed me. It might still take my career, but I was content with that. The lesson was worth it. Friendship was magical, and, in the future, I’d never be without it. Even as I moved forwards in life, the bonds I’d formed would never change. Most important of all, however, I’d always have Crystal. No matter where I went, from then on, I’d have her at my side. With her there, I could do anything, survive anything, achieve anything. Slowly, I turned to the four ponies in the room and cleared my throat. They stopped their machinations and looked my way. “I know I don’t say this sort of thing often, but I hope you all know how important it is to me that you’re here today. Each of you has bettered my life in a way that would have been impossible for me to do so alone. Things may change after today, but I hope you understand that I’ll always consider you friends.” Winterspear’s expression went soft and she said, “Aww, we know that al—” “I’ll always consider you my friend, too!” Runic exclaimed as he broke free from Winterspear’s grasp in her moment of weakness. “Runic! No!” Iridescence’s horn lit up but it was too late. Runic had already flown over and gotten his hooves wrapped around me. I smiled and hugged him back. Winterspear groaned. “Now look at what you’ve done! Runic’s messed up your uniform after we had it just right!” I shook my head. “It’s cool, we’re family.” Runic pulled back to look at her. “Do you want a hug, too?” Iridescence pried Runic away from me and levitated him back over to where they were. “No, nopony hugs anypony, not until after the ceremony. Winterspear, you fix Silent’s uniform, I’ll fix Runic’s mane.” Winterspear came over to me while the sounds of Runic’s protest filled the air. She put her hooves on my cheeks and squeezed them. “I still can’t believe you’re getting married.” “Well, you won’t have to believe it for long. It’ll be a fact soon.” “Oh, hush. Let me be sentimental.” Her hooves lowered to straighten the sash. Shining Armor stepped to my side to help my sister straighten my uniform. “I’m honored, Silent, honestly. I’ll sleep better knowing you’re the one keeping an eye on my family.” I smiled at him. “Well, considering I consider your family as important as mine, you can count on me, sir.” He nodded and clasped my hoof. “Alright. Well, before we all start crying, let’s get you situated and downstairs. It is about time, and Celestia forbid what your mare will do to us if we’re late.” “Yes, sir. Let’s go, everypony.” My groomsponies led me down to our designated spot on the outskirts of the palace garden. From our vantage point off to the side, I could hear that the garden was filled with the sounds of ponies talking in hushed tones. I’d imagined our wedding would be small. I’d imagined poorly. Every simple white chair was filled even though I barely recognized half of the ponies on my side of the aisle, much less hers. Winterspear took one look at me and then out into the garden before she patted me on the side. “Come on, your in-laws are wealthy socialites. What did you expect?” “A small wedding?” “I have smoke bombs if you want to escape,” Runic offered cheerfully. Iridescence’s eyes went wide. “No smoke bombs! We searched you! How do you have any?” Runic grinned at her. “I have back-ups.” Shining Armor chuckled. “It could be worse. Your bride could be a changeling queen planning on dominating Equestria.” Winterspear nodded. “See, that is what we call perspective. Come on, ponies, it’s show time.” “Yeah…” I replied before straightening up. “Detail! Forwards, march!” With me in the lead, we walked in step from one of the side doors and into the garden. That caught the attention of the assembled crowd and they fell slowly to a hush. In relative silence, save from the sounds made by some of the younger attendees, we marched through the arch of roses and up the aisle to where the Royal Guard officiant stood beneath the ivy-clad, white arbor that Crystal had selected. “Good afternoon, ponies,” the officiant said softly. He was also in his dress uniform and bore the insignia of a Royal Guard major. His coat was a dark green while his mane was red. The colors fit splendidly well with the rose and vine themes. That was most likely why Crystal had decided on him. “Good afternoon, sir,” I replied as we all lined up. Winterspear stood proudly at my side. Next came Iridescence, then Runic, and finally Shining Armor. The major smiled. “Are you ready for this, son?” I nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ve been waiting for this for a while.” “Good. That is good to hear. Well, take it all in. Don’t rush. Just savor the moment, looking at all the ponies who came to see you. Look at the ponies who’re standing with you. It seems most are your sisters and brothers in arms. That is good. They’ll always be there for you.” When we’d been interviewing officiants, I’d barely paid attention to them. Crystal made most of the decisions. This was not what I’d expected. “Thank you, Major…” “Virtue.” He chuckled. “I knew when we’d met you were mostly zoned out. Your mare was asking all of the questions.” My ears flicked back. “I apologize. Please understand I didn’t mean any offense.” He waved a hoof. “None taken, son. Do you know how many stallions come into my office and zone out? Don’t worry about me.” “Thank you, sir,” I replied before my attention turned to the crowd of ponies that had come out to my wedding. In the front row on my side was my mother. There were two empty chairs next to her, then it was Princess Luna. My mother kept smiling up at me and then occasionally looked over at the princess, who was also smiling at me. That was the entirety of the first row on my side. All smiling mares and empty seats. In the second row were my mother’s parents, Grandma Snowflake and Grandpa Morning. They looked extremely uncomfortable, because there were only two empty seats between them and Princess Celestia. I supposed it made sense that she was on my side. From there, it was less structured. The third to fifth row was mostly guards from my section. I didn’t recognize any of the ponies behind them, though. Maybe the ushers had just started grabbing ponies off the street to fill the seats. When I glanced at her side of the garden, it was packed. The first row, of course, had her mother. The second had two empty seats, an older unicorn couple I didn’t recognize, Sunbeam, Pepper Ridge and, of course, Red Velvet, who was staring intently at me. Horsey’s husband was in the third row with Lady Cadence. Then a ton of other ponies I still didn’t recognize. Perhaps Willowy had lost it and started bringing random ponies in to fill the chairs after all. I was pulled from that thought when the string quartet shifted from general ambiance music to the processional. “Look alive, guards,” Major Virtue said. All eyes turned to the arch opposite the arbor. Dot appeared and joyfully bounced down the aisle, tossing white rose petals with her magic. The coverage was perfect. When she reached the front, she turned and settled onto one of the empty chairs next to my mother. Velvet Step came next. She walked with poise, dignity, and grace towards us. Her pink dress barely registered against her coat. When she reached us, she winked at me and took her place opposite Winterspear. High Horse appeared and trotted at a slow, careful pace. She had the same level of dignity as Velvet, but it was hard not to notice she was extremely pregnant. From what I understood, her foal was due in a month or so, and it showed. She took her spot behind Velvet and whispered, “Wow, I feel like a whale.” “You look fine,” Velvet whispered back. Our heads turned as Raven made her entrance. She strode along the carpet with confidence and practiced ease. Which was no surprise, since she was used to being around Princess Celestia all the time. She nodded to me when she reached the arbor and then took her position. Last, but certainly not least, came Painted Wave. Her trot was calm, cool, and collected, but she looked thrilled. There was a bit of glow to her horn as she reached us and headed to her spot in line. The quartet finished their tune and then spun up into a louder one. Everypony rose, including the princesses. Jet Set and Crystal turned the corner. Our eyes met and my heart skipped more than a beat.