//------------------------------// // 3 – Making Preparations // Story: In Pieces // by Krickis //------------------------------// Chapter Three Making Preparations ⠀ ⠀ Like most things concerning the wedding, it was Fluttershy’s idea. When she married Twilight, it had been the wedding they were expected to have. For their wedding to Sunset, they decided to disregard expectations and have the wedding they wanted to have. When Twilight and Fluttershy married, there had been hundreds of guests in attendance; this time there would be closer to thirty, four of whom did not actually exist, officially speaking. Previously, every job had been filled by the highest rated professional ponies Equestria had to offer; now Twilight’s father would handle the photography, while Pinkie Pie, the Apples, and the Cakes took care of the catering. Media had been abuzz with any scrap of news concerning the last royal wedding for months on end; nopony had so much as whispered a word to the press that another was upon them. All in all, it was sure to be a much more intimate affair, held only for their closest friends and family. Of course, there were less desirable aspects to their wedding. The public opinion of them was mixed at best, which was the reason they needed secrecy in the first place. They did well at putting up a confident front, but Fluttershy had confessed that all three of them were afraid of finding out what would happen when they did make the announcement. And, of course, Celestia had agreed to officiate their last wedding. “I gotta say, this thing seems kind of ornate for a costume party,” the craftspony said as he boxed up Luna’s surprise gift. “Come now, Arbor Press. Have you ever known me to give anything less than my all?” He chuckled, and Luna could tell any doubt he had was immediately dispersed. “Yeah, ya got a point there. ‘Sides, that thing will make a damn nice souvenir. Family heirloom, even. Should last a couple hundred o’ years, no problem.” “I have no doubt,” Luna said. In fact, she hoped it would last much longer than that, though she needn’t say so. There was no sense in raising his suspicions, not when Luna already placed so much trust in his work. She assured him the payment would be delivered into his bank account as per their agreement, then left the shop. Without a word, Echo – her guard who was waiting at the door – fell into step beside her. Although they rarely talked, or perhaps in part because of it, Luna always found their presence comforting. Like her, they felt out of place. The chrysaor tended to keep to themselves, hiding away deep in the believed-to-be uncharted cave systems within Canterlot Mountain, making them an uncommon sight in the world above. Like her, they were also old-fashioned. While Equestria as a whole had progressed much in her absence, for better or worse the chrysaor largely respected tradition over progress. And of course, it helped that many ponies were intimidated by them, leading to far fewer ponies approaching her to make conversation. Echo guided her to her carriage, where Nocturn stood in wait. As Luna climbed in, Echo attached the carriage’s chains to his armor, and they lifted into the air. Luna always loved the view of Canterlot from above. Or indeed, of anywhere. She enjoyed observing, detached from the city below. She watched as ponies moved to and fro, most of them finishing their affairs for the day as the sun began its descent. She observed their small exchanges, and did not wonder at the meaning of them. Soon they were moving too fast for even Luna to keep watch over everything, so she turned her thoughts elsewhere. She glanced at the box, safely tucked against her side, and wondered what Celestia would say when she found out. It amazed her that in spite of all the years she had been alive, she was still finding new conversations to dread. It had been eight years since her return, and in that time she had experienced more new things than she would in most centuries prior to her banishment. ‘What would the Luna who lived so long ago do if she were in the situations I have been in recently?’ she found herself thinking. She knew the answer already. It was easy for her to figure out what she would have done, because she knew herself. But there was much difference between who she was lately and who had been in ages past, and she had not yet learned enough about the Luna she had become eight years ago. With half of her lost, even she was unsure what remained. There were many things that surprised her about modern times, even after almost a decade of relearning the world around her. One such thing was herself – Celestia had made her will explicitly clear, and Luna had defied it. They landed on the balcony attached to the astronomy tower. Luna disembarked and walked to the edge of the balcony, while her guards set about hitching the carriage up to its post. Her horn lit with a blue aura, and the moon peeked over the horizon. She smiled, feeling the sense of companionship that few other things could bring her. She turned back towards her guards. “Thank you, Nocturn, Echo. I do not think I shall require you further this night.” “Yes, Princess,” they both said at once. They walked over to the balcony beside her and flew into the air. Being high ranking officers in the Lunar Guard, they would spend their night leading their own parties around the city perimeters, guarding her sleeping ponies from whatever else lurked in the night. Levitating the box from the carriage on her way past, Luna made for her bedroom. She had, as ever, a busy night ahead of her to prepare for. To start with, there was a complicated issue concerning imports from Griffonstone she had to review; then her guard’s investigation into a criminal syndicate operating in Canterlot was coming to a head, so that would likely require her attention; as well, there were reports from Dodge City about strange things happening in the Badlands, so she’d have to make arrangements for yet another expedition to investigate. Honestly, by this point she was considering no longer making the trip personally, but it never sat well with her to not go with her guards on a potentially dangerous mission. All on top of her usual duties to be fulfilled every night. Her court was never as busy as her sister’s, but nevertheless she would have ponies to meet with; there were forms that needed signing, and others that needed ignoring; and of course, she would have to find time to check in with her dreamers, to ensure they had no need to fear the dreams that her night brought to them. And as she opened her bedroom door, she realized that she would need to add one more thing to her list: She would need to discern the exact reason her sister was lying on her bed. “Good evening, Tia. I trust you are finding my lodgings comfortable?” Luna levitated the box onto a shelf, and was relieved when Celestia seemed uninterested in asking about it. “Hello, Luna,” Celestia said, her voice almost nervous. It was the way she spoke when she was forced to put aside the mantle of Princess and show that even she was a pony like anyone else. It was a tone that nopony alive, save for Luna, had ever heard her speak in. “Do you have a minute to talk?” It did not escape Luna’s attention that Celestia could have paid her a visit in the day, when she would be interrupting her own schedule instead of her sister’s. She noted it, but was not surprised. That was simply part of who Celestia had always been, and who she would always be. “I can spare a few moments, to be sure,” Luna said, taking a place beside her on the bed. “What is troubling you, sister?” “Well…” Celestia frowned. Luna didn’t really need an answer, but in the interest of not forcing her hoof, Luna gave Celestia a few topics to choose from. “Is it the changelings or the wedding? Pray, tell me nothing else has come up?” Celestia smiled, as Luna knew she would. Her sister did so adore being able to put somepony’s fears to rest. “No, thank goodness. It has been relatively quiet these past few days. Nothing new on the changelings either, not since that short spike in their activity a few months ago.” Luna nodded. It was exactly what she had known all along. “So then the wedding is still troubling you?” She felt bad as Celestia’s smile faded. She knew her question would have that effect, but it still stung to know that she had caused her sister unhappiness. All the same, it was better to get to the heart of the matter. Celestia had come to her to talk about the wedding, so there was little point in talking about anything else. “I just heard from Sunset,” Celestia said. A smile returned, although it was not as bright as Luna would have liked. “She’s excited for her bachelorette party tomorrow, and it seems guests have been arriving throughout the day.” “I am relieved to hear all is well on that front,” Luna said. She grinned playfully, although she hardly felt like teasing Celestia when she was clearly so upset. “So then might I presume your current problem is that you did not get an invitation to the bachelorette party? Fear not, for I am sure I will be able to find you a stallion who would be delighted to put on a private show for you. Several, if you prefer.” At that, Celestia actually laughed. It helped to ease Luna’s own worries, and assured her the joke was not in poor taste. “I hardly think that will be necessary, although I thank you for the offer.” “I see.” Luna bowed her head for a moment, then popped back up with the same sly grin. “A mare, then?” “Well, I suppose it would make it slightly less awkward to have to explain I’m not interested.” “Wonderful!” Luna placed one foreleg around Celestia and threw the other up in celebration. She did so love when her sister played along with her. “Did you know they do a thing where they pop out of a cake now? It shall be great fun!” “Perhaps I could just have the cake?” Luna gave her a perplexed look. “Now you know I am not one to judge, sister, but that hardly seems sanitary. I do not believe those cakes are meant to be consumed after having a pony inside of them.” “Well, it’s not like the pony’s in the actual food itself. The cake is baked, then assembled around a small compartment, so they don’t touch the – why are you looking at me like that?” “One has to wonder where you got your expertise on the subject, Tia.” Celestia blushed and pulled away from her. “Well, of course when the invention was first patented it needed to pass safety regulations. I couldn’t very well allow anything dangerous on the market. Somepony could suffocate if they aren’t ventilated properly, for example.” Luna continued to grin at Celestia, arching her eyebrows a couple time to maximize the discomfort. Eventually, Celestia covered her face with a pillow and they both laughed. With both of their spirits somewhat lifted, Luna decided it was safe to push the matter at hoof again. “In all seriousness, you know I hate to see you so upset. Please, tell me what is troubling you.” Celestia hesitated a moment while she found the words, and turned away to stare at the bed. “Did I… act poorly?” Luna did not need to ask to know that she was referring to her decision to not officiate Twilight and Fluttershy’s marriage to Sunset. “You acted in accordance to what you felt was right.” “It’s just that without being passed into law, the wedding ceremony isn’t legally binding, but my involvement would make ponies think that –” “Tia,” Luna interrupted, “what do you suppose it says that you are still attempting to justify your decision? You know that I am fully aware of your reasons.” Celestia sighed. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I’m just… concerned. I don’t want to complicate things between Twilight, Sunset, and myself.” Of course, nopony but Celestia could possibly be oblivious to how complicated things already were between them. She had given her public support for their relationship, but in actuality her thoughts on it were clearly still mixed. Even when Twilight had begun to use her title to try and change laws to be more inclusive to polyamory, Celestia had chosen to remain distanced from the topic. Claiming that she didn’t trust herself to be unbiased in the matter, she elected that a decision would be made via the parliament which helped them oversee such legal matters. In the time before Nightmare Moon, there had been no such parliament, only political advisors that had no power but to give an educated opinion to either of the two rulers. Celestia had come up with the new system of elected officials to help her rule fairly in Luna’s absence, as well as to appease concerns from ponies who had become terrified over the amount of power the sisters had. If one alicorn could go rogue, why not the other? Although the chances of Celestia ever succumbing to such darkness were laughably small, it seemed to be a well thought out system all the same. It did allow for a better representation of each citizen’s interests, and provided the two of them with a way to delegate certain decisions. And as a pleasant surprise, upon looking through the nature of the parliament and authority it had, Luna discovered Celestia had left open a number of loopholes that would allow the diarchy to seize power, either completely or to pass a single issue without worrying about the red tape. She had been sorely tempted to make use of this fact and pass all of Twilight’s propositions into law, but it seemed even the new Luna was not quite so bold. Just bold enough to fulfil Fluttershy’s request, and officiate the wedding in her sister’s place. “They ask surprisingly little of you,” Luna said. “I… I know.” Celestia leaned her head against Luna’s shoulder. “I should have agreed to do the ceremony.” “Ah, but we both know the value of ‘should have’ is poor. You did not, and I have no intention of backing down from the position now.” Luna rested her head atop Celestia’s and wrapped a wing around her. “But as it happens, I have another idea for something that you can still do.” “Really?” Luna had to smile at the tone of hope returning to her sister’s voice. “As it happens, there is something that Sunset would never ask, although I can think of little else that could bring her as much happiness.” Celestia lifted her head to look into Luna’s eyes, and Luna couldn’t help but smile at what she saw. Celestia would agree, which meant the final and least certain piece had come into play. Luna’s plan to gift her friends the most perfect wedding possible was coming to fruition.