Rise of Shadow

Chapter 28: Aftermath
Scotty glanced down at the element of harmony he now wore proudly around his neck, as if checking it was still there. The jewel had been removed and re-forged into a sky blue sapphire that was an exact copy of a part of his cutie mark: a comet. When it was on his flank this comet was yellow and it blasted past the white outline of a planet. On the golden necklace however it was singular in its journey.

He was sat in the waiting room of a makeshift medical facility in the palace’s east wing. There had been many such locations spring up across the city since the battle; medical areas to give aid to those wounded in the battle and housing areas to house the refugees from across Equestria. Scotty had been told that the battle would have been lost had it not been for the timely arrival of Shining Armour and his army of crystal ponies. As it was they had appeared just as Shadow’s forces had managed to rally an effective resistance against Celestia’s army. The crystal ponies had broken through the northern gates of Canterlot and come about behind the zebra forces. Their lines had been broken and the zebras all fled before them.

A nurse pony trotted up to him and told him that his friend was ready to see him. He smiled and thanked her, walking to the doors of what had been a bedroom. Inside were six beds, separately partitioned from one another and each bed held a pony. A blue coated earth pony with black eyes lay in one, his hoof in a sling. Another held a pegasus mother who had been beaten by zebras while defending her child. The only Ponyville resident in this ward was an ice blue earth pony called Shoeshine. None of them were who Scotty was there to see. He walked to the bed on the far left of the room and pushed aside the partitions.

“Hey, how you holding up?” He asked softly as he pulled up a chair at the bedside.

“How do you think?” Sparky said, he smiled but it couldn’t hide the pain in his voice.

“That bad huh?” Scotty smiled at his friend. Sparky sighed.

“I hurt so many ponies Scotty.” He said simply his voice thick with regret but Scotty shook his head.

“Dark Spark did, you didn’t.”

“So everypony keeps telling me, I guess I’ll have to accept that as an answer. But anyway enough about little Sparky, lying in his bed and feeling sorry for himself, let’s move on to something more cheery. Ratty tells me you’re getting married.”

Scotty spluttered with laughter. “He really needs to keep things to himself, element of trust indeed, well since you ask, not yet, I haven’t even proposed yet.”

Sparky shrugged, grinning. “From what I’ve heard that’s just a formality to get out of the way. I heard miss Pinkie Pie has already begun planning the reception.”

Scotty laughed. “Oh, that reminds me, Twilight and the girls have given you these.” His element glowed and he levitated a bunch of flowers from the saddlebags he was wearing. Sparky’s face lit up as he wrapped them in his own orange magical field. He levitated them into an empty vase on his bedside table. There was another vase there, it was black and held deep purple flowers and was decorated with a bright crescent moon symbol, Luna’s cutie mark.

“Looks like you already have yourself a little admirer there my friend.” Scotty told him and Sparky smiled.

“Do you believe that there’s somepony out there for everypony Scotty?” He asked and the red pegasus smiled.

“Yes Sparky I do. Although…” He stood and made to leave before turning back to Sparky and flashing him a cheeky grin. “I would say that you’d better hope that her big sister isn’t too overprotective.”

On the far side of the city Twilight was in the middle of a heated argument with Vinyl Scratch about the position of a new nightclub in the rebuilt Ponyville. She slammed her hoof down on the conference table that she and many other Ponyville residents were sat around discussing how they were going to rebuild the town and where the major buildings and housing areas were going to be.

“A nightclub in the middle of the housing district is just ridiculous!” She said and Vinyl sat back slowly.

“So where do you suggest we put it?” She asked and Twilight shook her head.

“I’m not really sure myself but trust me, it’s definitely on the list for new buildings.” Vinyl nodded, unsatisfied but having to deal with it. Up at the far end of the table Applejack was patiently explaining the area that would be needed for Sweet Apple Acres to Mayor Mare.

“All in all, mayor you’re probably gonna have about five or six miles between the farm and the Everfree forest.”

”Five or Six will be wide enough to fit the town and a park easily.” The mayor replied nodding. The door swung open and Scotty strode in.

“Sorry to interrupt everypony but can I ask when you think you’ll be finishing here because Twilight and I have a dinner reservation for tonight in about half an hour.” Twilight looked at him in surprise.

“We do?”

Scotty smiled apologetically. “Yeah, as of about five minutes ago.”

“She’s free to leave whenever.” Mayor Mare told him. Twilight nodded her thanks and said her goodbyes, stood and headed for the door.

An hour later she and Scotty were sat at a candlelit table in one of the fanciest restaurants in Canterlot.

“It’s amazing that places like this are able to still be functioning so soon after the battle.” Scotty was saying.

“Many restaurants were prioritised in being reopened because of the number of ponies now in the city.” Twilight told him. Scotty nodded and chewed on a fried celery stalk. Twilight, already finished sat forward.

“So tell me Scotty, what exactly have you been up to over the last five years.”

Scotty swallowed the last of his meal and said. “What do you want to know?”

“Let’s start out simple, how did you come to know Commander Ice?” Scotty smiled.

“Icy’s an old friend. He worked at my side during our last mission on the frontlines in Saddle Arabia. We had information on a large POW camp in which Jocky was being held but we needed somepony on the inside. Ratty volunteered and got himself captured. He wore a tiny device in his mane that allowed us to see and hear everything and one night we attacked. The remaining agents under my command and a military unit under Ice’s. We successfully liberated the camp before my team got their orders to return to Equestria.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Your team?”

Scotty nodded. “Strike team one, there were ten of us when we first went out to Saddle Arabia, there are now five, well six if you count Miniskate but that isn’t official yet. I took command after our last leader was killed in an ambush. But if you don’t mind I’d prefer not to talk about wars and death considering what we’ve just been through. No, I’d quite like to hear all about your adventures since that day in Canterlot.”

She broke into a huge grin and launched immediately into her tale. Scotty listened to her talk about everything from gaining her friends and defeating Nightmare Moon to the Grand Galloping Gala, from Discord to the chaos at her brother’s wedding and from the return of Sombra and the crystal empire to her friends managing to aid in its hosting of the Equestria games. When she had finished the two of them ordered dessert. When it arrived it was on a silver platter with a domed dish over it. The waiter allowed Twilight to remove the lid while Scotty suddenly found the feathers in his wing extremely interesting. She gasped when she saw what was inside; a ring. It was imbedded with a deep purple amethyst in the shape of the prominent star on her cutie mark, she whipped her head to Scotty who had begun to watch her in fascinated silence. He stuttered nervously and chewed his lip.

“I… I erm, asked Rarity to carve the gem, she hated keeping it a secret from you. I err, well I guess what I’m trying to say is err.” He raised his head and looked deep into her violet eyes with his own, blue as the sky. “Twilight Sparkle, will you marry me?”

Slowly, as if handling some dangerous creature, Twilight levitated the ring from the plate and slid it gently over her horn. She looked back into his eyes, her love for him bright as the day.

“Yes Scotty, yes I will.” A grin broke out across his face as he leaned across the table to kiss her.

When he sat back he said. “Great!”

Chapter 29: The Wedding of Twilight Sparkle
“Twilight, do me a favour and tell that fiancé of yours that he simply must come down here for a suit fitting at once.” Rarity ordered as she put away the measuring tape she had been using to size Twilight for a dress. She spun across the little studio in a frantic whirlwind. She had immediately claimed ownership of the duty of making the wedding clothes and as such, had practically stolen this little boutique away from the owner completely. Twilight smiled and gently touched the ring she now wore around her horn, thinking of Scotty who, across the city was meeting with her brother, she did hope that they were getting along.

Scotty recoiled from a blow as Shining Armour swung at him. As he saw the next blow coming he leant back and allowed the crystal prince to overbalance. Scotty picked him up from beneath his chin and slammed him into the ground. He stood over Shining Armour, victorious. The unicorn held up his hooves.

“I yield, I yield.” He stood up and removed his padded gloves. “But I’ll get you next time.” Scotty smiled at his future brother in law.

“No you won’t.”

Shining Armour inclined his head. “Maybe, maybe not.”

Scotty unwound the bandages that he had wrapped around his hooves and placed his hoof over Shining Armour’s shoulder. “Come on then, let’s get cleaned off and find Ratty, he’s probably with Sparky.” Shining Armour nodded and the two of them walked to the nearby shower block.

Ratty was in the waiting room of Sparky’s ward in the medical centre he smiled and waved as they approached.

“Twilight and Rainbow Dash are inside visiting Sparky, I’ve got to tell you to visit Rarity in the boutique for a wedding suit fitting.”

Scotty frowned. “What’s wrong with my ESS suit?” He asked and Ratty raised an eyebrow.

“It’s sapphire blue.” He pointed out and Scotty nodded slowly as Shining Armour doubled over with laughter behind him.

“Oh yeah.”

Shining Armour stood up. “Well, if you’re going to go and do that, I’m going to go and find Cadence.” Scotty nodded and hugged him. As he walked away Ratty looked after him, a faint smile playing at his lips.

“You seem to be getting on with him quite well.” Scotty turned and looked at him.

“Who? Shining Armour? Yeah, we’ve always got along well, him and I.” They walked through the city, passing damaged buildings and dodging around potholes in the pathways. When they arrived at the little shop Rarity opened the door and ushered them inside. She began to bustle about them quickly with a measuring tape and Ratty smiled across at his friend and rolled his eyes, Scotty smiled as he began to realise that he was watching his life stretch out in front of him.

The wedding took place three days later, a small and quiet ceremony in the gardens of the palace. Twilight wore a long flowing white dress and flowers in her mane that were the same blue as Scotty’s eyes. Scotty wore a black suit and a tie the same purple as Twilight’s eyes, Rarity had outdone herself this time. In attendance were Princess Celestia, who led the ceremony as she had at Shining Armour and Cadence’s wedding. These two were also at the ceremony as were Fii and Jocky who were both wearing the sapphire blue suits of the ESS. Ratty stood next to Scotty at the altar as his best stallion until Twilight joined them escorted by her brother at which point he had joined Applejack and the other girls on the front row of benches. Princess Luna was there as well, in a deep purple dress and her flowing mane tied into a ponytail with silver bands. Miniskate was wearing her roller-skates and, through a combination of them and her wings she managed to get photos from almost every possible angle. Spike was the ring bearer for the ceremony and the three cutie mark crusaders were bouncing around in excitement. At the back of the little gathering stood Sparky, supporting himself on a pair of crutches and with a bandage over a busted nose that still hadn’t set properly.
In a strong contradiction to this, the reception was anything but quiet and private, almost everypony in the city was invited and the rest all turned up anyway. Ratty’s best stallion’s speech was suitably embarrassing, Shining Armour’s suitably formal and Scotty’s suitably soppy. Sparky hadn’t been wrong about Pinkie Pie putting together the reception. After the bride and groom’s first waltz and a few lively dances played by Octavia and her quartet, Vinyl Scratch and her turntables were rolled up and the entire palace was pretty blown apart by supersonic wubs. It had more than it’s fair share of entertaining moments as well, Twilight being so giddy when cutting the cake (beautifully designed by the Cake family) that she had almost killed her new husband with the knife. Rainbow Dash had got to take part in a stunt show alongside the Wonderbolts in which she had performed three consecutive sonic rainbooms by flying higher than the mountains above Canterlot and diving down below the overhang on which the city was set. When the night was nearing its end Twilight, who was absolutely blind drunk, started getting a bit too friendly with a pegasus guard named Flash Sentry for her husband’s liking and Scotty (also quite drunk) had ended up knocking him out cold. When it had come to the time for the bride and groom to get into their sky chariot and head off to their honeymoon destination, a private island in the Canterbbean, Twilight had thrown the bouquet high into the air and with an earth shattering scream of “MINE!” Rarity had lunged for it only to be pushed out of the way by Applejack who caught it deftly between her teeth and turned to look about herself for Ratty. Sparky found him first and as Applejack raised an eyebrow to him Scotty called out loudly.

“Ratty, mate! It looks like my dear wife has just forever sealed your fate!”

Ratty had smiled and levitated a little box from inside his suit. “I was going to wait until things were a little quieter.” He told Applejack who didn’t even give him time to finish his proposal, only allowing him time to say “Will you mar…” before she kissed him and told him that “yes, of course yes.” At that point in time, amid all of the sudden cheering, Twilight and Scotty slipped quietly away into the sky chariot and left, leaving Pinkie and the others to try and wind down the party. As the city receded behind them Twilight wrapped her hooves around her new husband and kissed him.

“Scotty,” she said looking deep into his eyes.

“Twilight?” He responded.

“How much luggage did you bring?”

“One case, why?” He watched her as she facehoofed before turning back to him.

“Ok, we’re going to have to work on your packing for holiday technique but for now, just kiss me.” He smiled that beautiful smile and leaned in close.

“Whatever my dear wife asks.”

Chapter 30: A New Dawn
Ratty woke up and immediately noticed that two things were wrong. One, his head felt like it was ready to explode and two, he was pretty sure that this wasn’t his bed. His suspicions were confirmed when he attempted to find his way to the door and his way was blocked by Applejack. “

And just where d’ya think you’re going.” She asked him and he smiled at her kindly.

“Back to my room, if my suspicions are right I’m going to spend most of the day being sick and I’d prefer not to make a mess in your room.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to for two reasons; one, you gave your old room to Sparky last night because he had nowhere to go after his discharge from the medical centre and two, this is not my room, it’s our room.” Ratty blinked twice and looked her up and down slowly. Suddenly his eyes caught on the emerald studded bracelet she was wearing around her left foreleg and his stomach sunk into his chest.

“Did I, uh, did I propose to you last night?” She grinned from ear to ear and nodded.

“Eeyup.” Suddenly Ratty was grinning as well and he stepped in close and kissed his fiancé hungrily, when they finally separated he groaned as his stomach gave another painful protest.

“I think we might have to wait at least a month before my hangover clears up.”

Applejack laughed. “Don’t worry, ah don’t want to have the wedding until Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville are rebuilt and ah’ve managed to invite some of my relatives.” Ratty smiled, nodded, and then threw up.

Sparky and Ratty met in a sort of smoothie induced break between vomiting and the green unicorn clapped his friend on the back.

“Another wedding to plan, huh?” Ratty laughed and shook his head.

“Not for a while yet, we’re waiting until Ponyville has been rebuilt.”

Sparky nodded before inclining his head slightly. “When does construction begin by the way?”

Ratty turned green for a moment and quickly downed another kiwi fruit smoothie before answering. “Start of next week is when we set off. We should have cleared most of the rubble by the time Scotty and Twilight get back.”

Sparky stood staring off into the distance for a while before he shook his head with a smile. “Scotty married, you engaged, things really will never be the same again will they?”

Ratty shook his head. “No they won’t, it’s a new age in Equestria’s history and you know what? I can’t wait to find out what it’s got in store for us.”

He stood on the cliffs that curved away from the city and tested his weight on his broken leg. Damn that little pegasus, she truly had ruined everything. It had shattered his world. But he hadn’t fallen to his death. No. A broken leg was all he had received from it. Oh, and he would be back, it was a new dawn for all of Equestria and when they wrote about in the history books they would be writing about the darkest age in the land’s long history and, at the centre of it all, that was where he would be. His name was White Stripe and this, this was only the beginning.