Shining smiled to himself as he and his new bride danced together at the wedding reception. The wedding itself had gone off without a hitch, as had the introductions of his extended family. Keira and Twilight had gone off into a major technical discussion/comparison of Eco and Magic and how they interacted as soon as they were introduced, and even Princess Celestia had trouble following some of the technicalities of it. Shining had thought that would be the high point of the meeting, but then he'd seen Fluttershy cuddling Daxter and Tess as 'adorable little creatures' and nearly busted his gut trying not to laugh at Daxter's disgruntled expression. That had quickly been topped by Pinkie's insistence on befriending Samos, and Samos' stubborn refusal to be part of "such childish shenanigans!"
But the real highlight had been seeing Celestia's reaction to Jak. Even as Shining danced with Cadence, that scene played in his mind.
As the Everfree Forest unraveled from around Jak and the others, all that was left behind were Changelings bound in cocoons of black, thorny vines. Jak had then stepped forward with a smile as he saw Shining waiting for him. "Hey bro. Glad you saved some for me!"
"How'd you even do that, Jak?" Shining asked curiously. "It looked like Dark Giant, but it wasn't Dark..."
"That forest has a whole bunch of conflicting energies in it, and there's a crystal tree in the center that keeps it all in check," Jak explained, "but the black vines were choking the life out of it. I synced myself to the energies in the tree and vines and balanced them against each other. They now work together to keep the forest in check, the Tree keeping the dark at bay, and the vines keeping the light from growing too strong. As thanks, the Tree lent me the power of the whole forest when it felt my worry for you. Glad I was in time."
"And just in time for my wedding!" Shining agreed warmly. "I'd introduce you to my bride to be, but she's in the middle of re-planning the wedding for the afternoon after having spent several days locked in a cave after being replaced by a female wanna-be Kor."
"She sounds tough," Jak offered with a chuckle. "She might just be able to keep up with you."
Shining laughed along with his brother, pausing as he saw Celestia staring. "Celestia, this is my brother, Jak. Jak, Princess Celestia, one of the Diarchs of Equestria."
"Guess I should be formal here," Jak murmured. Stepping forward, he bowed respectfully. "Highness, I am King Mar of Oasis."
"Named for several ancestors in your bloodline," Celestia murmured softly. "Rather fitting that Shining became your brother."
"What do you mean?" Jak asked, confused.
Celestia gave Shining a look. "The factions I mentioned...the three leaders at the very beginning were a triumvirate that led the race...and were siblings. Two brothers and a sister. Erebus, Faust...and Mar." She then bowed quite respectfully to Jak.
Shining stared, dumbfounded. When Jak gave him a confused look, he responded, "I'll explain later."
Coming back to the present, Shining smiled as he stepped away from Cadence, deciding to keep his focus on the now. There would be plenty of time for ruminating much, much later. For now, he would focus on this, the happiest day of his life.
Besides, a quiet voice observed, if you really want to worry over something, worry over what sort of tech Keira and Twilight will come up with.
...sometimes he really hated his subconscious.
The sound of soft wings heralded the arrival of a late guest. Turning, Shining saw a blue alicorn settle down beside Celestia, quickly recognizing Princess Luna. "Hello everypony," she spoke up happily. "Did I miss anything?"
Celestia gave a soft smirk, watching as Luna went for the punch bowl to wet her whistle. "Changeling invasion, I owe you 10,000 bits, and one of Mar's blood is visiting."
Luna's expectoration saturated a good half the nobility. "What?" she demanded in shock, spinning to actually look at the assemblage. She quickly spotted Jak in his Precursor Armor...and Shining still in his own armor (Cadence had insisted it looked much better for the wedding on him than the dress uniform...which he'd destroyed anyway, no matter how quickly Rarity said she could fix it) with wings on full display. "...his transformation agreed with him," she observed, licking her lips as her eyes trailed over his musculature...which was far more defined than it had been before his 'bachelor party'.
"Also, he can use Eco," Celestia added. "And he's taken. This is his wedding reception, after all."
Luna frowned petulantly. A look of cunning crossed her face. "Do you think Cadence would be willing to share-"
"Mine!" Cadence snarled angrily, glomping onto Shining and glaring daggers at Luna.
Jak burst into laughter until Keira punched him on the arm. Daxter showed less restraint with his own amusement.
Luna sighed softly. "And another good one already taken," she grumbled under her breath. She then straightened her shoulders. "Still...there are other ways to celebrate this. Tia, where did I leave my war hammer?"
"Lulu, you are not picking a fight with the new Prince on his wedding day," Celestia countered firmly.
"Please?" Luna begged, giving Celestia a surprisingly adorable pout.
Shining leaned towards Cadence's ear. "If you're okay with it...I wouldn't mind finding out what I'm really capable of in battle now that I have these," he whispered, flaring his wings. "An exhibition match sort of thing?"
Cadence grinned widely, shuddering in excitement. "Show me what you're made of, Captain my Captain."
Grinning, Shining drew his swords and turned towards the Princesses. "So where are we doing this?" he asked curiously.
"A fight?" Jak asked eagerly, spinning his staff. "Hope you don't intend to leave me out!"
Keira's face met her palm. "Boys," she groaned softly.
Celestia and Luna grinned widely. A golden spiked mace with an eight foot shaft and a ten foot diameter sphere top appeared over Celestia's shoulders as Luna conjured a midnight blue warhammer with a sledge bigger than her entire body.
"Everyone clear out!" Samos called out. "Super powered exhibition match! If you aren't indestructible, vacate at least one mile away and watch through far-viewers! Probably best to go further, but I leave it up to you idiots to balance personal safety against witnessing a spectacle!"
Dangit Samos... Guess they'll be renovating the castle after all!
Yes... So much yes.
Well, Canterlot could apparently do with some remodeling anyway...
Mace and hammer? Why do I feel like that's a reference to a different fic?
Dammit. I was hoping for Celestia face planting the floor the moment she laid eyes on Jak.
Ah well, maybe I'll see her face plant the ground for entirely different reasons in the next chapter.
*Giggles like a loon for roughly five minutes.*
Hey, wait a minute!
So... does that mean Jak, Celestia, and Luna are related by blood? Or is this a spiritual sibling relationship, like Jak and Shining?
7795930
Yes, the bloodline of Mar is directly related to the bloodline of Faust, from which Celestia and Luna descend.
Of course, they're also directly related to the bloodline of Erebus, from which Kor descended.
7795939 Huh... neat little piece of lore.
1: in THE tree
2: fun fact: (i may/may not have mentioned this before) Originally the Everfree forest was supposed to be an ever-encroaching threat to Ponyville. That idea was scrapped, however.
oh this is gunna be awesome
"Everyone clear out!" Samos called out. "Super powered exhibition match! If you aren't indestructible, vacate at least one mile away and watch through far-viewers! Probably best to go further, but I leave it up to you idiots to balance personal safety against witnessing a spectacle!" this one line made my day
Guess Luna is GONNA DROP DAT HAMMER!
Mace to meet you Jak
NERD!
I don't really care if Cadence shared or not, but the fact that Luna asked is what makes me happy.
This is gonna be good.
Please put my bits on Shining Armor and Jak. I just don't think that Celestia and Luna have that much firepower at their disposal. Also I loved Cadance's reaction to Luna wanting to start a heard, priceless.
Was there apparently no reaction to the fact that Keira and Twilight sound the same?
This was funny On one hand, you'd think Cadence would be open to the thought of a threesome. On the other hand, I suppose she wants the badass hunk of stallion all to herself after what she had witnessed a couple of chapters ago
7795926 Nyx's Family I think?
( in an betting outfit )
ok I got 4 to 1 odds of jak & shinning winning well cel & lu are at 5 to 1. come place you're bets here & please say the amount of bits you're putting on for fairness. hurry hurry hurry. we don't know when they'll start but it'll be soon.
7796000
"has" is actually correct, because the Everfree still has all those conflicting energies in balance.
7796665
The original Mar, Faust, and Erebus were energy beings. They chose physical forms for their descendants when they first started creating worlds based on what form could best access the energy they hoped to utilize. Pointy-eared human worked best for Eco, and equine - amongst others - worked best for quintessence.
7796531 Ah, that was it.
7796895 I thought that since he harmonized those conflicting energies somewhat, had would be a better choice of words.
THIS IS GONNA ROCK!!! Though with all the chaos that will be flying around, will Discord break free??? I can see him pouting as everyone ignores him in favor of the fight.
*Hides in couch fort to watch the fight*
7796968
The conflicting energies were balanced against each other. They're still conflicting energies.
7797299
Mythology, a God of Darkness.
In this case, the founder of the Dark Makers.
7797209 I didn't think nthat was possible. Fine, then.
edited.
7796579 10 bits and a soda say they end up calling it a draw.
7797384
Matter and antimatter are constantly in conflict by nature. But balanced in a warp core, that conflict creates a reliable source of power.
7797392
got it. next better.
Why did I see this coming...
You'd think harems would work for Shining...
cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/57422707.jpg
7795939 So... How would the eventual PWNY family tree look...
Theory: Beware WoT:
Faust, Sister to Mar and Erebus, begat the line that produced Discord, whom I would guess was Star Swirl before his corrupted "Second Apotheosis" (The robes would be an Excellent way to hide his wings from the Public + he had well documented Space/Time powers which actually tie in rather nicely to the overarching PWNY Plot if you work it right), whom begat Celestia and Luna through Vaermina. However, due to the recently shattered timeline, plus his own history as "Discord" with the Princesses as well as their birth taking place Post-Shattering, he and his mate were unable to care of their children directly, and so in the Pre-Shattering History he took on the guise of Slepnir, claiming to be his own "brother" through Loki's line. As Asgardians and Jötun are also beings of Strong Magic, it would stand to reason that among them their own rulers are descended from the line of Faust. Star Swirl would have been "Slepnir", taken and raised in Equestria so that he could later become Discord as Causality demands, not knowing his heritage until he himself does the displacement as Discord/Slepnir, and re-takes his place as his original self, essentially going through a Third "childhood" (though not as exciting or world-altering as his one under Jyggorath, as at this point he's more interested in running Damage Control). The relevant Asgardian authorities are eventually "Read In" to the fiction that "Discord is Slepnir's Brother) when Rainbow Dash's Splinter ends up in their corner of the Multiverse and they play along for the sake of temporal stability.
That... somehow makes some semblance of sense in my head despite how utterly convoluted the necessary series of events to tie everything together is... Dafuq brain?
8077395
Somehow, I get the idea that the ACTUAL result will be far more elegant and simple... for given values of "elegant" and "simple".
Keira and Twilight are going to make terrible, wonderful things.
This should be a fun fight. From a distance.
7797186
*Hops in a quantumly displaced bunker* you sure that will help?*