The Equestrian Parliament mandates an arranged marriage to politically subjugate the Changeling Empire. And Twilight is selected to be the bride.
Twilight's entire life is upended after the Equestrian Parliament votes to subjugate the Changeling Empire via a political marriage. Twilight, in order to save her mentor from taking on the responsibility of the marriage ends up volunteering herself to be the bride.
"I now call the 503rd meeting of the Equestrian Parliament into session," Celestia started as she slammed a gavel onto her podium, the sound reverberating through the meeting hall. Stretched before her were dozens upon dozens of desks laid out in a circular pattern. Sitting at these desks were mostly ponies, but there were a couple of creatures of other races scattered about here and there.
On her left and right, standing at podiums of their own, were Princess Cadance and Luna respectively. Celestia looked to Luna out of the corner of her eye; the other alicorn looked slightly stressed, but Celestia couldn't judge her. This was only the third of these biennial meetings she had attended since her return from the moon, and as such she wasn't quite used to handling the parliament.
Celestia shook her head and turned her attention back to the crowded room. She straightened her back and unfurled her wings as she stared down the many officials of Equestria's many provinces, nobles, and elected officials alike. Looking down at her checklist, Celestia let out a small sigh. Only sixty-seven of the desired hundred attendees.
Celestia cleared her throat and shuffled the papers on her podium as the delegates did the same until finally, everything was in order.
A pony near the front of the desks wearing a rich purple suit adorned with a ruff and monocle spoke first as he approached the podium. "The honorable representative of Ardennais would like the floor first, Your Majesty," the pony, one Duke Paard, said with a slight bow, his voice richly accented.
"The representative of Manehattan seconds this request," another pony said, this one wearing a tuxedo-like suit as he leaned forward on his desk, a smile splitting across his face. And like that, it was decided what the first topic of the night would be.
Celestia let out a sigh as she ruffled through her notes, she knew exactly what Paard was going to say before he even said it.
"I presume this is on the topic of the recent Changeling Invasion?" Celestia asked, turning to her sister once again. Luna merely stared at her, head lowered in resignation.
"But of course your majesty. We all know that we cannot put this off any longer." Paard said, "Twice, Your Majesty. Twice the changelings have attacked Equestria, defying the rights of her subjects and attempting to subjugate her people. This, I'm sure we can all agree, cannot stand."
The crowd behind him murmured as Celestia stared down the Duke.
"I am well aware of your concerns, but thanks the actions of Starlight Glimmer and several of our allies, the Queen responsible for these blatant attacks on our sovereignty has been deposed, and a new ruler has been installed, one more willing to align themselves with Equestria. As such, the issue with the Changelings has been resolved." Celestia explained with a nod of her head.
Duke Paard merely straightened his back in response.
"I disagree." The Duke stated firmly. Instantly the room erupted into gasps as the noble turned to his fellow delegates. "Yes, Queen Chrysalis has been deposed, Your Majesty. But what of the soldiers who followed her? The ones who broke into our homes in the dead of night and replaced our loved ones? The ones who rampaged through the streets of this fair city during the first invasion? Shall they escape punishment? Shall we show them that Equestria will back down and allow them to carry on without reprieve?"
Celestia blinked twice and opened her mouth to speak.
"Yes, many atrocities were indeed carried out in Canterlot by the Changelings during their first invasion, and truly I understand your apprehension in trusting them, but I speak on good authority when I say the Changelings are just as much victims of Chrysalis as us ponies. They were following orders, under threat of death, Duke Paard." Celestia said, a frown coming to her face.
The Duke turned back to her, a serious expression on his face. "Your Majesty, I ask you this. Has the phrase 'just following orders' ever been a valid excuse? "
That gave Celestia some pause. The princess stayed quiet as another pony joined Paard before the pedestal.
"Your Majesty," a senator by the name of Capital Venture said as he sauntered up next to the Duke. He was somewhat stereotypical in appearance, with slicked-back hair, and a gold-toothed smile. "I, as the representative of Manehatten, am in full agreement with Paard. Not only for the reasons the Honorable Representative of Ardennais has presented, but I have doubts that their new king is even competent enough to keep to his promises. Is it not true that he only became a king within the past year?"
Celestia hesitated. "Correct."
The parliament started to murmur again.
"And is it not true that he, for the first half of his reign struggled to deal with rogue changelings who remained loyal to Chrysalis?" Venture asked, his frown deepening.
Celestia didn't respond.
The delegates started to grumble, many of them locking eyes.
Venture continued; "This 'King' Thorax claims he managed to bring these rogues into line, but I highly doubt that. Especially if one of them was his own brother! And if he did fail to tame these rogue elements, what's to stop them from taking power again and attacking us a third time."
The crowd turned to outrage and quickly fell to disorder, the dozens of voices calling out at once gave Celestia an instant headache. Venture and Paard then both locked eyes with her, it's clear they weren't done.
"Our solution is simple, Your Majesty," Paard said, eyes narrowing slightly. "We request an immediate invasion and subjugation of the changelings. Thorax alone cannot be trusted to keep them in line and prevent a third invasion, and Equestria cannot turn a blind eye while their nation gets away scot-free for war crimes!"
Cadance suddenly slammed her gavel on her podium, straightening up. "Now hold on!" She cried, cutting off the crowd before they could let out another uproar of shouts. "Warcrimes? That is far too strong a word for what the changelings did, the attack on Canterlot-"
"Was an attack on a civilian target!" Paard cried, frowning deeply. "That by definition, as laid out by the laws of combat signed by Commander Hurricane and Princess Platinum after the Unicorn-Pegasus War a warcrime. That is not to mention their subsequent kidnapping replacement of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, preventing them from their duty of raising the sun and moon. An act that might well have scorched all life from the surface of Equis should they have not been stopped."
Celestia and Luna once again locked eyes as Cadance stammered for a moment. "But..."
"I say, we put it to a vote," Venture said, standing closer to Paard. "All in favor of the immediate invasion and subjugation of the Changelings?"
Luna suddenly spoke out, frowning deeply. "Veto'd." She said, which made the entire room freeze. Paard and Venture both turned to her wide-eyed. Silence reigned for a moment before Luna unfurled her wings, a deep frown spreading across her face. "I will not allow Equestria to be plunged into a war in which we will be the unarguable aggressor, that will be devastating to both Equestria's international reputation and her people."
"And so you support the idea of war criminals running free? Of a potential threat roaming free on Equestria's borders?" Venture replied, Luna instantly grit her teeth and growled.
"Of course not," Luna replied, "But I do not support a war!"
Suddenly a new voice spoke up, coming from a desk near the front. "While I agree a war is best avoided, I feel that the representatives of Ardennais and Manehatten are correct."
All eyes in the room were on the delegate of Ponyvile, Mayor Mare. The earth pony slowly rose from her seat and joined the two other representatives, a slight frown on her face. "While I feel Paard and Venture might be going a bit too hard in their convictions, it is without question that Thorax alone cannot be trusted to keep the changelings in line, and we cannot trust the changelings with self-governance after everything they did."
Celestia closed her eyes and deeply inhaled for a moment before turning her attention back to the Mayor.
"Then what do you suggest we do, Mayor Mare," She said simply, growing bags forming under her eyes.
"I suggest we send a litigation to the changelings to temporarily take over as Thorax's advisors to both keep him and his subjects in line," Mayor Mare stated turning back to the parliament. Several of the ponies involved nodded. Then Capital Venture stepped up.
"I disagree. Mainly on the basis of it being a temporary solution. When the litigation leaves, then there is nothing to stop the changelings from slipping back into their old ways," Venture said. "Whatever solution we present must be permanent."
Then it was Paard's turn to speak up; "What about a royal marriage between our nations? We present it under the guise of forming a stronger bond and alliance between the two nations when in reality it is Equestria putting one of our monarchs on the throne. Any heirs created from the marriage would also defacto subjugate the Changeling Empire as a personal union under Equestria." He said simply, turning to the parliament with a smug smile. Many of the senators began to mumble turning to one another and nodding.
Cadance's eyes shot open and she stood up on her hind legs, slamming her forelegs onto the podium. "Veto'd. I will not allow a purely political marriage, especially not in this day and age. Love is-" She was almost immediately interrupted.
"All opposed?" Venture asked, turning back to the crowd with a glare.
Immediately dozens of hooves shot into the air. Cadance, Celestia, and Luna all gasped, taking a step back. There was a pause before Venture turned back, a wicked smug smile spreading across his face.
"I count a two-thirds majority," he said simply. "Do we even really need to vote on whether or not the proposed marriage go through?"
Mayor Mare took a step back from Venture and Paard, her jaw dropped. She turned to look at Celestia and Luna, then back to the two representatives. Then she hung her head.
Celestia turned to Luna then back to Paard and Venture. Then back to her sister.
"We... We accept the parliament's ruling," Celestia sighed, gritting her teeth for a moment as she stared down Paard and Venture. "We will... We will immediately hold a council between the princesses once parliament finishes session to decide... to decide which among us will have the honor of wedding the changeling monarch."
No one noticed Celestia's eye twitch.
"Auntie, you can't do this!" Cadance cried. She and her two aunts were walking down a hall in Canterlot Castle out of the meeting. "Sure there is something you can do to stop this?"
Celestia turned back to Cadance with a sudden movement, baring her teeth. "And what would you suggest I do Cadance? Remove Venture from office and suffer the wrath of the millions of ponies in Manehattan who elected him into office? Execute Paard and risk a civil war with Ardennais? Become a tyrant no better than Sombra because the ponies elected by my subjects made a decision I don't like?"
Cadance stammered for a moment, turning her gaze to Luna, who took a deep inhale as she turned to her sister. "It's tyranny of the mob my dear niece. The majority made a decision, and now it's down to us to fulfill it; it is our responsibility as princesses. At the very least you are already married, so the consequences of their decision don't fall on you."
Cadance turned to Luna then back to Celestia, her lip curling in disgust. Then she lowered her head and sighed.
Celestia's eye twitched again as she turned away from Cadance and straightened her back. "We need to meet with Twilight tomorrow, then we will make our decision. Until then, I recommend we all get some sleep. Tommorrow will be... difficult."
And with that, the alicorn walked away, leaving Luna and Cadance behind.
“You’re kidding… You’re kidding right?” Twilight asked, her jaw dropped. She was in the map room in her castle, joined by Princess Cadance, Celestia and Luna, who were each sitting in one of her friends thrones.
“I’m afraid not, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna replied, shaking her head. “The parliament has made their decision and we cannot fight back against it without splitting the nation.”
“Surely you can do something if all four of us were to veto the decision at once…” Twilight asked, frowning deeply as she sat up in her throne.
Celestia looked down at the map with a sigh, shaking her head. “I taught you about Equestrian politics when you were my student, Twilight. You know that’s not the case.” She said. “Before Equestria was even Equestria, ponykind was split between dozens and dozens of independent nations, not just the three tribes. When we united, it was under the stipulation that the former rulers of the independent nations were given a say in the nation's ruling. If we went back on the parliament’s decision they might take it as a violation of the ancient treaty and legally seced.”
“Especially Ardennais or Manehattan,” Cadence said looking down at the map, her eyes locking on Manehatten.
“Which would collapse the Equestrian Economy…” Twilight sighed, slumping in her throne.
“Or worse, lead to a civil war,” Celestia pursed her lips. “And I will not allow a war that would kill thousands, maybe even millions of my subjects. Even if it means a personal sacrifice on my part.”
Celestia perked up and inhaled deeply. She held the air in for a moment before slowly exhaling.
“So now, it is down to us to decide which of us will make the sacrifice for the nation,” she said, turning first to her sister, then her niece, then her student.
“Now hold on,” Twilight sighed, shaking her head. “How do we know Thorax is even up for this?”
“He has little choice,” Luna responded, leaning forward. “It took everything we could do to prevent parliament from voting on an outright invasion of the changelings. If Thorax were to decline Paard or Venture could use it as an insult to twist parliament into declaring war. And if the two of them manage to receive a two-thirds majority…”
“War…” Cadence grimaced.
Celestia straightened her back, her face twisting into a frown, she opened her mouth to speak, before closing it and sighing. “We know what we must do now. It’s time for us to decide which among us has to make the sacrifice for the good of both our people… and Thorax’s.”
Twilight, Luna and Celestia nodded in response.
“Cadance and Flurry Heart are both off the table,” Celestia said, turning to her niece with a nod.
“Cadance is already married, and due to her status as the ruler of the Crystal Empire, an Equestrian Protectorate, she would not be capable of making the Changelings into a personal union of Equestria with any heirs she creates,” Celestia said robotically, her countenance growing grim. “And due to her age, Flurry Heart cannot be even considered.”
Cadence breathed a slight sigh of relief. Not just for herself.
“That means it’s down to the three of us,” Twilight said, turning to Celestia and Luna.
“I would not be a good choice,” Luna said, putting a hoof on the map. “Due to my… history as Nightmare Moon, the Equestrian Parliament don’t trust me enough to let me out of their sight. I predict a decision to have me marry Thorax would be immediately veto’d. They would be too worried that I would become Nightmare Moon again and use the Changelings as an army to invade Equestria.”
The princess of the night suddenly smiled; “Besides, I think Thorax would be a bit too scared of me to accept.”
Twilight and Cadance giggled slightly, while Celestia flashed her sister a dry smile.
The good mood quickly soured when Twilight and Celestia locked eyes. They were both quick to realize what Luna’s inability meant.
“So, it’s going to be one of the two of us then,” Twilight said.
Celestia looked down at her hooves, a look of resignation on her face; “I… I was hoping to retire soon, a thousand years of rule definitely take their toll on a pony's psyche, but I don’t want to do that to you, Twilight. I can’t let you-”
“No.” Twilight suddenly said, her eyes narrowing slightly.
“No?” Celestia asked, her eyes shooting wide.
“No,” Twilight stood up, placing her hooves on the map. “You’ve already done so much for me, sacrificed so much for Equestria. I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me by doing this.”
The other princesses gasped.
“T-twilight, you don’t mean…” Cadance stammered, looking at Twilight in horror.
Twilight just responded with a dry smile of her own. “Marriage can’t be any worse than any of my other adventures can it?” she asked, giving a slight tilt of her head in Cadance’s direction.
Celestia merely stared at her student, gears turning in her head.
“You’re willing to marry on a whim… for me?” Celestia asked, her jaw dropping slightly. “Twilight I… I don’t know what to say…”
“Don’t worry too much about it, it’s my responsibility as a Princess,” Twilight said, a couple of beads of sweat falling down her forehead. “Besides, it’s not like I’m marrying a total stranger. I know Thorax… kind of.”
Luna and Cadance locked eyes for a moment, as Celestia continued to stare at Twilight. Her eye twitched again.
Thorax was sitting on his throne, staring down in horror as he read a scroll that had been handed to him by one of his changelings.
Pharynx stood next to him, wearing a full suit of armor, with a couple of guards surrounding the two. They were growing increasingly antsy as Thorax’s face grew paler and paler.
“Thorax? What’s wrong?” Pharynx asked, frowning deeply. The prince took a step closer to Thorax as the king suddenly dropped the scroll, which slowly floated to the ground.
Thorax covered his face with his hooves as Pharynx turned to the scroll, reading it from the ground. It was a letter from Princess Celestia. That made Pharynx cock and eyebrow; wasn’t she an ally?
He turned back to his brother. “What, did Equestria get invaded again? Do they need our help?” he asked as he bent down to pick up the scroll. Thorax merely kept his face buried in his hooves as Pharynx started to read.
“The Equestrian Parliament has… has decided to force the Princesses to offer us a royal marriage,” Thorax stammered, which made Pharynx quickly lower the scroll with wide eyes. “She s-strongly recommends I accept, otherwise Parliament might order an invasion.”
The changeling guards all immediately gasped, several dropping their weapons, to cover their mouths with their hooves.
“Invasion?” One asked, turning to the others.
“What!?” Pharynx roared, his eyes widening in rage. He quickly stomped towards his brother. “We made a deal with their princess! We are allies hive damn it!”
Thorax remained silent, merely staring at his hooves in front of his face. They were shaking.
Pharynx seethed for a moment, turning to his brother. “Reject them,” he ordered, towering over his sitting brother. “If they want to break our alliance and attack us, we’ll put them in their place.”
Thorax turned to his brother. “We both know I can’t do that. I can’t… I can’t sacrifice our subjects for my sake.”
One of the guards suddenly spoke up; “N-not to mention sir, uh… you’re the only one who’s good at fighting…”
Pharynx turned to the soldier with a loud snarl. The soldier immediately squeaked and dropped to the floor, covering his head with his hooves. Pharynx then snapped his gaze back to Thorax.
He went silent for a moment before straightening his back. “I’ll do it. I’ll marry whatever Princess comes for you,” he said.
Thorax slowly looked up, turning to his brother. “They won’t accept you… it has to be me…” he mumbled. He returned his gaze to his hooves, shaking his head.
Pharynx ground his teeth together for a moment. “But you’re…”
“I know…” he sighed, swallowing down a gulp. “I know I am…”
Pharynx inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
“Then your mind is set?” he asked his brother in a rare soft voice. The changeling king merely nodded in response.
“My mind was made up for me,” Thorax stammered, his eyes watering slightly. “I have to accept.”
It was the next day after Twilight, Cadance, Luna and Celestia had made their decision. They were back in Canterlot, sitting at a table in a high tower, across from Paard and Venture, who had been selected by parliament to oversee the marriage.
“So, have you made your decision?” Paard asked, leaning forward slightly and propping his head up on a hoof.
The other princesses remained still, but Twilight gave him a nod; “We have Duke Paard. I will be the bride.” Twilight said simply, smiling slightly.
Paard and Venture turned to one another locking eyes. They stayed silent for a moment before turning back to her and nodding.
“Then it’s done. We shall begin preparing for the wedding immediately,” Paard said with a nod, preparing to stand up.
“Wait! Before you do, I wanted to… to ask something,” Twilight said, standing up a bit too quickly.
Paard and Venture both turned to her. Venture glared slightly, while Paard cocked his head to the side. “Yes?” Paard asked.
Twilight blushed for a moment. Everyone in the room was staring at her now.
“I…” She cleared her throat. “I was wondering if maybe I and my friends could…” She hesitated for a moment. She turned to look at Cadance who smiled at her. She straightened her back and furrowed her brow. “I was wondering if my friends and I could plan the wedding instead.”
Paard’s eyes widened for a moment, while Venture frowned even deeper.
“Absolutely not. This will be done by the Parliament,” Venture growled, leaning forward. Celestia and Luna both turned to each other and frowned. Cadence opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by Paard.
“Veto’d,” Paard said, turning to Venture with a frown. Venture gawked at his partner momentarily as Paard turned to Twilight with a slight nod. “I don’t see why the princess shouldn’t be allowed to plan her own wedding.”
Venture stared at his partner for a moment, jaw dropped. After a moment, the senator let out a low growl and grit his teeth.
“You have parliament’s blessing to plan your own wedding,” Paard explained until his smile dropped. “On the condition that you include a bedding ceremony.”
Instantly the room turned to shock.
Twilight’s jaw dropped as her face turned red. Celestia and Luna meanwhile could only stare down at Paard in equal parts shock and horror.
“A bedding ceremony? What is this 600 AC?” Cadance asked shooting up.
“The main point of this wedding is to produce an heir to bring the Changeling Empire under Equestria as a personal union. As such, it only makes sense to get them to work as soon as possible, alongside consummating the marriage immediately to prevent the changelings from requesting annulment later down the line,” Paard explained impassively, an act which made Venture smirk.
Twilight stammered over her words for a moment as Cadance growled, grinding her teeth.
Paard merely stared back at her with stern eyes as his face remained emotionless. “I don’t get all the aggression and hatred towards these decisions. I myself had an arranged marriage and a bedding ceremony and I turned out fine.” He said, turning to stare down at Twilight.
Twilight stared back up at him, unable to move. She paused to think. Bedding ceremonies were an old tradition. Originally from the Kingdom of Gryphonstone, it made it’s way to Equestria several centuries ago, and became a common practice among nobles on their weddings. The basic principle of a bedding ceremony was that the bride and groom would be escorted to a bedroom after their vows - sometimes even immediately afterward - and put to bed together, before being left alone to consummate their marriage.
Consummation was important in those days, and there were even laws in place to say that a marriage unconsummated would be made null and void.
Twilight frowned, thinking. If she accepted, she’d be able to bring her friends in to help her plan the wedding, which was something of a dream of hers, but the bedding ceremony would be… unpleasant to say the least.
On the other hand, if she didn’t accept the wedding planning would go to Venture and other members of the government, who would likely try to sneak a bedding ceremony into the wedding either way. It was a lose-lose scenario.
Twilight straightened her back and looked Paard in the face.
“Very well, I accept the condition,” she said, a frown on her face. Cadance, Celestia and Luna all instantly turned to her with a gasp. Venture’s eyes widened in slight shock, his smug smile disappearing.
Paard merely smiled in response, giving a slight nod. “Wonderful, we have an agreement. The wedding will have to happen in the next few weeks, so please plan expediently.”
Twilight let out a slight sigh as Paard stood up from his chair and turned to leave the room. Venture, for his part, turned his attention between the Duke and the princesses several times, before growling and standing up, following after his partner.
Cadance turned to her sister-in-law, a frown on her face.
“Why did you do that? We could have challenged them on that?” Cadance asked, sitting up slightly.
Twilight merely shook her head in response. “If we had fought back against the idea of a bedding ceremony, they would have gotten parliament involved, and there would’ve been a high chance they would have stripped us of any power or oversight we have over this. At least by accepting their condition, I have control over everything else involving the wedding,” she said, shaking her head.
Cadance blinked twice before shaking her head and slumping in her chair.
“I’m sorry Twilight,” She said, turning to her sister-in-law. Her eyes were downturned as if she couldn’t even look her fellow princess in the eyes. “I’m trying to help but…”
Celestia leaned forwards to join Cadance in staring at Twilight. “We all are, but there is little we can do.”
“It’s impressive that you are managing to stay so cool and collected during this,” Luna said, with a dry smile. “Were I given that choice, my emotions would have led me to make the wrong decision.”
“I know, I know,” Twilight sighed, shaking her head. With a deep breath, Twilight straightened her back. “Now I just have to tell my friends, I probably should’ve let them know before I planned on roping them into this…”
“You have good friends, Twilight Sparkle, I’m sure they would be more than willing to help you,” Luna smiled.
Twilight nodded back at her. “I’m sure they would too.” She looked at her fellow princesses with a smile. Cadance and Luna mirrored her face, but when she looked to Celestia, she saw that she wasn’t smiling…
