The Royal Canterlot Family

by CartoonNerd12

Happy Accident

Author's Note:

This special oneshot was written by KidatHeart5 and this was set one year after A World Above.

Ponyville was abuzz with energy and excitement. The hour was soon approaching, so the citizens had much to do. Since it was going to be an important and historic event, many preparations were underway. The sewn yet somewhat ripped banner was hung on Town Hall, ceremonial fire pits were placed within the building's perimeter, and the crystal wedding arch was positioned in front of the stairs. Supervising it all was a very nervous dragon holding a very long list that was dragging on the ground.

"Is the banner even? Are the flowers in place? And what about the ceremonial fire pits? Are they still flaming?" Spike asked in concern.

On cue, Discord smiled mischievously and snapped his talon. With a loud "FWOOSH!", fire erupted from the pit Spike was looking into.

As a burnt Spike coughed from the sudden ignition, Fluttershy softly scolded her husband, "Discord…"

He shrugged, "What? He's getting worked up over a simple wedding."

Spike stood up and scowled, "A simple wedding? It's more than a simple wedding!"

Twilight then came up and explained, "He's right. It's a very crucial instrument in building an alliance between the dragons and the changelings."

Discord just looked at her in disinterest and dug into his ear. "Sorry. I don't speak 'bookworm'."

Twilight only groaned in agitation.

Mothball then came up and said, "I am happy Thorax is marrying the love of his life, but isn't it kind of strange that it's Ember? I mean, my brother and Asher's mother? Does that mean Asher and I are…brothers-in-law twice?"

Twilight clarified, "Actually, you'd be Asher's step-uncle and he would be your step-nephew."

Discord put his claw to his head and his eyes spun as he remarked, "Sheesh! This family just got a lot more complicated!"

Mothball asked, "Yeah. How did we ever get to this moment?"

Applejack spoke up, "I think it all started when we were here for Matchstick's Blazing a few months ago…"

---

A newborn dragon/pony hybrid gurgled and giggled as he flailed his tiny arms and legs. He had an orange dragon body with a yellow underbelly, blond hair, a blond pony tail, Ember's nose, and green eyes with round pupils, which he got from his mother Apple Jewel.

Turquoise tickled his belly as she smiled, "Baby brother!"

Apple Jewel nodded, "That's right, honey. That's your baby brother."

Asher – the proud father – added, "And his name is Matchstick."

Suddenly, the baby's cheeks puffed out before he let out a fiery burp. Turquoise quickly drew back to avoid the burst of flame.

Ember chuckled, "You better be careful, Turquoise. This little guy is a fire bomb."

Asher mock-chastised her, "Mom!"

She smiled, "What? I'm kidding."

Just then, Pinkie leaned into the doorway and asked in singsong, "Who wants to help me set up decorations for the Blazing?"

Turquoise raced out of the room as she excitedly volunteered, "Me! I can! I can!"

Ember then said, "I can go with her to spend some grandma-grandkid bonding time in case she gets bored."

Asher followed his mother and daughter as he said, "I'll tag along to keep you two outta trouble."

Apple Jewel held her son in her arm and waved his tiny claw, "Have fun, you four!"

---

While Turquoise helped her great-aunt Pinkie with the decorations, Ember and Asher sat together on a bench and watched the two have fun together.

Ember commented, "Turquoise is sure growing up into some…body special. I almost said 'somedragon'."

Asher chuckled, "Don't worry, Mom. It's not every day a dragon/pony hybrid comes into the world." Then the dragon thought of something. He didn't like bringing up the topic in fear of upsetting his mother, but he thought it was a good time for it. "Hey, Mom? Do you…think Dad would've loved the kids?"

Ember gave him a wistful smile and put her claw on her son's shoulder, "If you were happy, then that would be all he'd care about. I know I do." She then withdrew her claw and took a deep breath. "Please don't make me talk about how I miss him." She suddenly sneezed fire. "I'm allergic to feelings."

"I wouldn't think of it. I'm just worried that you might be lonely ruling the Dragon Lands."

"As much as I'm glad you're concerned about me, I'm fine. Besides, dragons mate for life, so there's no way you'll catch me with another dragon."

Asher shrugged, "Whatever floats your boat." When his mother looked at him in confusion, he sheepishly clarified, "Sorry. Pony expression."

Ember remarked, "And the ponies thought the dragons were strange…"

Turquoise then ran up to her grandmother and jumped excitedly, "Grandma! Play with me! Play with me!"

Ember stood up and rubbed her claws together, "Okay, little tiger. Let's see if you can run away from…" She then held her arms up in a mock menacing way. "…the maulwurf!"

She playfully roared and chased Turquoise as the young hybrid flew and squealed in delight.

---

Spike then spoke up, "But wait. Wasn't that around the time…?"

---

Spike handed Applejack the next banner from the box and she hammered it onto the wooden beams of the town hall.

The princess wiped her brow and said, "Phew! Just one more of these fireproof banners and we should be good to go."

"On it!" He dug his claw into the box, but found it was empty. To his surprise, a green hoof held out the last banner for him. "Oh, thanks."

As Spike was giving the banner to Applejack, a voice said, "You're welcome."

Their eyes flew wide open at the familiarity of the voice and Applejack almost fell off of her ladder. The stunned couple turned to see Thorax smiling at them.

They both cried, "Thorax!"

Spike stammered, "Y-y-you're here!"

The changeling king answered, "Of course I am. You invited me, remember?"

"I-I did? Oh! I mean, of course I did! We were just so busy with the preparations we forgot you were coming. Yeah, we wanted to introduce you to a little dragon culture by inviting you to the Blazing." He put on a cheesy smile.

"Oh, you know changelings. They always get attracted to fire just like moths are drawn towards the light…"

As Thorax rambled on, Applejack whispered to her husband, "You invited Thorax to the Blazing?"

Spike responded, "I must've accidentally written his name on the invitation instead of Torch's."

"What are we gonna do?"

Suddenly, they heard someone shout, "Uncle Thorax!"

Thorax laughed as Oddball jumped into his arms, "He-hey! There's my favorite nephew in the whole wide world!" He gave Oddball a noogie, causing the young hybrid to laugh.

Oddball then asked, "You wanna play with me?"

"Anything for my favorite nephew."

"Yay!" He then tapped Thorax's muzzle. "Tag! You're it!"

Oddball flew off and Thorax followed him, "I'm gonna getcha!"

Simultaneously, Ember and Thorax played with their younger relatives until they got to Town Hall. On the veranda, Turquoise whipped her head in both directions trying to find her grandmother, who was hiding on the circular deck that jutted out from the second floor of the town hall. Meanwhile, Oddball and Thorax flew around the top of the building.

When the young hybrid flew closer to the front of the hall where the banner was hanging, Thorax cautioned, "Be careful, Oddball! Don't hit the banner!"

"Whoa!" Oddball cried as he narrowly avoided the banner.

However, his hind hoof got caught on one end of it momentarily before pulling it away; thus, the end of the banner unfastened from the pole and began to fall down.

While this was happening, Turquoise wandered down the stairs and said, "I wonder where she is?"

At that moment, she saw a familiar shadow spreading its dark wings as a voice responded, "Right here!"

She looked up to see her grandma leaning over the railing and jumping over it while giving a mock menacing roar. Suddenly, the loose edge of the banner caught her in its trap and her spikes and one of her horns pierced through the banner. As she struggled to get free, her claws accidentally tore the material.

Thorax flew down to help her out as he said, "Oh, my! Are you all right? Here, let me get this off you."

Ember grunted as she tried to get the banner off her, "I'm okay, I'm okay! Don't worry about it! I can handle it! Just help me pull this off!"

"Okay."

Thorax grabbed the middle of the banner and pulled on it while Ember tried to pull the other direction. Oddball got an idea and conjured up a giant pair of scissors to cut the part of the banner between them. Both creatures went flying, yelping until Ember landed in a vat of punch and Thorax landed in a vat of pink slime. The royals and Ponyvillians alike ran towards Ember and Thorax on opposite ends of the town square. Ember surfaced from the pink punch, coughing out bits of the liquid and small clouds of smoke. The concerned royals and citizens asked if she was all right.

Ember choked out, "Oh, great! *Kaff!* I think the punch got into my lungs!"

As she continued coughing, the ponies helped her rise from the vat and some gave her towels to dry herself off.

Spike then asked, "Wait, where's Thorax?"

As if an answer to his question, Thorax gasped for air as he surfaced from the pink slime. He held onto the edge of the vat as he called out, "I'm okay!"

Everypony gasped in horror of the slimy changeling before them, afraid of a poor reaction from him. Suddenly, Ember burst out laughing.

Thorax – with his eyes blinded by the pink goo – asked, "What's so funny?"

Discord chuckled as he wiped the changeling king's eyes, "See for yourself."

He held out a mirror for Thorax to see. The changeling was surprised that he was covered in pink slime with cutesy confetti.

Thorax chuckled, "I look like a silly sludge monster!"

Some ponies breathed a sigh of relief while others were astounded as Ember and Thorax broke out into laughter.

---

Ember sipped her cocoa with a gem-encrusted rim and asked Thorax, "So, how'd you like the Blazing?"

The changeling answered, "Oh, it was great! It's wonderful learning about a new culture! What about you?"

The dragon shrugged, "Eh, you've seen one, you've seen them all. My son had it, my granddaughter had it, and now my grandson had it."

"I love your family. I really do. They're all so nice. I'm surprised they even invited me to the Blazing. It was a nice pick-me-up…" His eyes looked downwards as he dejectedly continued, "…after what happened."

Ember asked as gently as she could, "So what did happen?"

Thorax slowly explained, "Thieves broke into the nursery and took a bunch of our eggs. We manage to save most of them…but they still got away with one." He then sighed, "I wish I could've saved that egg, too."

Ember consoled, "I'm sorry to hear that. You know, life isn't all diamonds." Thorax looked at her in confusion and she corrected herself, "Sorry. Dragon expression. What I mean is there's going to be bad things that will happen. I've had my share of painful moments in my life. One of them was losing my mate to a rockslide."

Thorax put his hooves to his mouth, "Oh, that's terrible!"

"I know." She gave a sneeze and magenta fire burst from her mouth. "I think I'm allergic to feelings."

Thorax then suggested, "Well, would you like to exchange letters?"

"What?"

His eyes widened as he realized what he said. He blushed as he nervously corrected himself, "Oh! I mean, w-w-would you like me to give you some tips about expressing your emotions?! Yeah! That's what I meant!"

Ember then smiled, "You know what? I'll take you up on that offer. And the letters, too."

Thorax smiled widely with joy.

---

"That night, he told me he had a crush on Ember," Mothball recollected. "Thing was, he thought he wasn't good enough for her. I told him to give their friendship some time and see where it goes. I'm glad I did."

Asher – who had come up to the group with Turquoise – spoke up, "I don't think Mom had a crush on Thorax right away, but she began mentioning him in her letters. She talked about how he was a good friend who totally understood her and gave her good emotion lessons. Even though Mom claims he cured most of her 'feelings allergy', I think opening up did that for her."

Spike asked, "Was she closed off after your dad died?"

"Yeah, pretty much. But she didn't let her grief get in the way of living her life and raising me. Still, she never fully addressed the issue until Thorax came along. It was only when she discovered her feelings for him that she told me she was afraid of loving someone again in case something happened to them."

Discord asked with intrigue, "Oh? And when did she tell you this?"

"It was after she visited the Changeling Kingdom and right before she took Thorax to the Dragon Lands."

Twilight asked, "Do you suppose Thorax's visit to the Dragon Lands was a turning point in their relationship?"

"It might have been, between Mom and Thorax saying they weren't going to be together and then Thorax getting kidnapped before Mom rescued him. I think his abduction at the claws of Garble and his gang finally got him and Mom to realize they were good together after all."

Applejack spoke up, "And they have plenty good traits to bounce off of. Her courage and love for family; his kindness and strength."

Turquoise chimed in, "Don't forget how he defeated the Maulwurf!"

A voice then said, "If I recall correctly, I was the one who came up with the plan for it to hit itself."

The group turned to see a dark green changeling coming towards them.

Asher playfully said, "Really? I thought it was Mom – the fire-breathing trespasser – who gave you the idea."

Pharynx rubbed the back of his neck as he replied with a nervous smile, "Well, I did diss her for a while, but she showed some real guts fighting that Maulwurf with us. I kinda wanted to date her in case things didn't work out between her and Thorax, but they're a really good pair and I'm glad for them. Now what did I come here to say? Oh, yeah! I know they wanted a pony wedding to make mating easier for them, but is it really necessary for Thorax to wear the dress?"

This caught the royals off-guard and they shouted, "What?!"

Discord then burst out laughing, "BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Thorax in the wedding dress! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! That's too priceless!"

While the draconequus kept laughing, Pharynx asked, "I take it that's a 'no', then?"

The royals sans Discord looked at each other nervously before Mothball answered, "You know what? It's their wedding. If Thorax wants to wear the dress and Ember wants to wear the tux, that's fine by us."

Pharynx responded with an unsure look on his face, "If you say so."

As the dark green changeling turned to leave, Mothball quickly asked in an anxious tone, "Ember is wearing the tux, right?"

Pharynx answered slowly, "Yeah." He then left to check on his brother.

Suddenly, the wristwatch on Twilight's hoof began to chime. She looked at it as she gasped, "We better hurry! The wedding starts in 15 minutes!"

Fluttershy then said to her husband, "You better be on your best behavior when Thorax walks down the aisle."

Discord snickered at the thought and giggled, "I'll try."

---

All of the guests were seated in the rows of chairs on either side of the white carpet. Along with the ponies, Ember's uncle Firestone and cousin Mina as well as a few changelings were present. Ember was already standing underneath the wedding arch with Spike acting as officiant.

He whispered to the Dragon Lord, "You nervous?"

Ember smiled, "No way." Suddenly, she started to sneeze. She quickly held her nose to quell the sneeze. After the tickling in her nose died down, she told Spike, "See? I'm not."

Music began to play as Sound Wave – Thunderlane's son and Rumble's nephew – flew down the aisle with a guitar in his hooves. Following him were Oddball – acting as the ring bearer – with his parents behind him, Apple Jewel and Asher walking side-by-side, and Turquoise tailing them while throwing flowers everywhere.

"Flowers for you, flowers for you, flowers for you!" When she came up to the arch with her family, she proudly declared, "I did it! I threw all the flowers!"

As Apple Jewel kissed her daughter's forehead, Asher praised, "Good job, sweetheart!"

Screwball quieted them, "Hey, keep it down. The groom's coming."

Just as she said this, four unicorns carrying a large curtained palanquin marched into the town square until they stopped in front of the white carpet. After they did so, the ponies used their magic to set the palanquin on the ground, making sure to leave no dirt between the transport and the carpet. Two of the unicorns then magically pulled the curtains back to reveal Thorax, who was clothed in a lovely white dress and had flowers decorating his antlers. Pharynx – who was holding his train – had told him to be calm and dignified, but one look at Ember and the taller brother was unable to contain his excitement. To everyone's surprise, Thorax quickly ran out of the palanquin and down the aisle, dragging a yelping Pharynx with him. Sound Wave tried to quicken the music to Thorax's speed, but suddenly, Thorax opened his wings and swiftly flew the rest of the way. When his brother stopped at the arch, Pharynx lost his grip on the train and hurled into a large vase of flowers.

The dark green changeling remarked in an irritated tone, "Eesh! Eager, much?"

As soon as Pharynx took his place as one of Thorax's Best Changelings, Spike began the ceremony. "Dearly beloved…ponies…changelings…dragons…grandsons and granddaughters…Discord…we are gathered here today to celebrate Ember and Thorax. Though they may be of two very different races, they have created a special bond that will not only serve to unite dragons and changelings, but also as a testament that love can spring between even the most unlikely individuals. I should know."

The guests chuckled at that.

"Now to you, Ember."

Ember blushed and her heart began to quicken as she struggled to find the right words. After only a few moments, she spoke up, "Umm…You know I'm not good with talking about my feelings, but you taught me how to express them more often. I'll never forget the times you gave me encouragement and understanding when I was facing my own problems, even the ones with my grief. At first, I thought I was okay with being alone, but you showed me that I don't have to be. Not anymore. And you taught me that it was okay to be myself and be more open at the same time, so I want to be me with you. If anyone wants to tear us apart, then let them try!"

Thorax chuckled, remembering when Ember had terrified Garble and his gang to submission. "Ember…I want to say 'thank you', for helping me become a better leader, for being a great friend, and for changing my life. Before I met you, I thought no one took me seriously because I was soft and kind. But when you came along, I learned that those qualities were something to be proud of. I'm also proud to become your husband today. I love your bravery, your boldness, your resilience…"

Ember's snuffling cut him off mid-sentence and she sneezed a burst of fire towards the white carpet. Everyone on either side of the flame narrowly dodged it, though some were slightly singed in the process.

The dragon bride nervously smiled, "Oops."

Thorax then chuckled, "I even love your cute fire sneezes."

Ember whispered with a blush and an embarrassed smile, "Shh! You're embarrassing me in front of the crowd."

As soon as everyone settled down from giggling, Spike said, "Now that everyone's had a good chuckle today, I have some very important questions in mind. Thorax, do you take this dragon to have and to hold on this and every other land in the world?"

The changeling groom cried with glee, "I do!"

"And Ember, do you-"

The dragon bride interrupted him, "Yes."

"You didn't let me finish."

"I'm just very excited."

"All right, then. May I have the rings, please?" Oddball stepped forward with the cushion of rings floating in front of him. Spike took one ring and put it on Ember's finger. He said as he did so, "By the power vested in me…" He then grabbed the ring on the chain. "I now pronounce you husband…" As he tried to put the token over Thorax's antlers, the chain refused to go down any further. Spike then grunted, "Husband…Ergh! Hus-band…"

As the guests waited with silent anticipation, Pinkie said, "Yeah! Oh. Uh, no. Not quite. Uh... all right. There it is!" When Thorax's token finally reached his neck, the crowd cheered and Pinkie shouted with joy, "Yay!"

Spike sighed in exhaustion, "Husband and wife! Now kiss the bride."

The couple didn't waste a single moment and locked lips almost immediately. The crowd cheered in ecstasy as the flameless fireworks Dr. Hooves had brought to the wedding sprung into the air and burst into wondrous displays of color.

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

Discord put his claw to his head and his eyes spun as he remarked, "Sheesh! This family just got a lot more complicated!"

You said it, Dissy.

Turquoise tickled his belly as she smiled, "Baby brother!"

WHAT?! WHAT?! "faints"

Thorax slowly explained, "Thieves broke into the nursery and took a bunch of our eggs. We manage to save most of them…but they still got away with one." He then sighed, "I wish I could've saved that egg, too."

WHAT (again)?!

"It might have been, between Mom and Thorax saying they weren't going to be together and then Thorax getting kidnapped before Mom rescued him. I think his abduction at the claws of Garble and his gang finally got him and Mom to realize they were good together after all."

Those last two quotes feel like setups.

He then grabbed the ring on the chain. "I now pronounce you husband…" As he tried to put the token over Thorax's antlers, the chain refused to go down any further. Spike then grunted, "Husband…Ergh! Hus-band…"

That was one hilarious reference. It's even funnier since Spike is the one struggling. Not that it wasn't funny with Luna, it's just that Spike has more expressive facial expressions and vocal patterns, which makes it funnier.

[CartoonNerd12]

9358961
Wow! You don't seem all that surprise that Thorax was wearing the wedding dress and Ember the tux!

[Godslittleprincess]

9358991
I was a bit weirded out, but it did set up for the humor that is Pharynx getting dragged down the aisle. Besides, after thinking of it, I took it to mean two things: 1. Playing up their odd couple characteristics 2. Their lack of understanding of pony customs.

[dlewis53]

Well, this was a pretty nice chapter. Seeing Ember and Thorax playing with their respective child relatives was pretty cute, as was their interactions. A few other points:

1. I would've liked to see that whole incident involving Garble; that sounded neat. Oh well.

2. Please tell me that missing Changeling egg is going to come into play at some point; that sounds interesting!

3. I was surprised to see Pharynx here, and it sounds like his whole ordeal played similarly to the show, though Ember was involved.

4. Gee, I wonder what show the wedding is referencing? I have absolutely no idea...in all seriousness, that was an amusing reference to the Gem wedding from Steven Universe, and I accept Godslittprincess's idea that it resulted from the two not understanding pony customs.

All-in-all, this was a good chapter, and it's nice to return to this series briefly.

[LunaJack]

9359160
I agree. I would have liked to see the Garble incident and I too hope the missing egg will come into play. I may need to re-read some of these stories. I'm getting a little confused.

[KidatHeart5]

9359017
It was actually a bit of both.

[Foxhelm]

You said it, Dissy.

The family was super complicated to began with, now it's just getting riduclous.

"I wish I could've saved that egg, too."

Obvious foreshadow is obvious.

9358991
Yeah... I am going to have to side with Pharnyx on the matter about the whole attire matter. I actually didn't find him holding the train funny, I actually found it... sad. I actually felt pity for him.

[AmethynniaTheDragon]

This chapter made me laugh, too hard
At first, I was a little weirded out about the wedding dress question. But thinking about it, it makes so much sense for them to do that; after all, Dragons don't 'do dresses', and I doubt Thorax really cares how ridiculous (or oddly lovely?) he looks. Thank you for this beautiful short episode, it seriously made my day