The town was dead, nopony could be heard or seen, not uncommon for midnight. The ponies had paired off as they walked through the town. Rainbow Dash noticed something first, the castle seemed lit up brightly on the edge of town. "What's goin' on at your castle, Twi? Is it party night every night now?"

"I… I don't know. I can't hear any music coming from there." Twilight's wings lifted a little in alarm. She started to move faster but a dark black wing settled on her back. "Gel?"

"If there is something wrong, we meet it together." The stallion leaned in against his love. "Besides, what could possibly happen that two knights, two alicorns, a vampony, and a changeling couldn't deal with?"

As the group got closer, Muffins strode forward a little faster, giving the prince and princess a little glare as she did so. So she was first to stride up to the doors and peek in.

Gel and Twilight looked as their friend and guardian froze, her jaw dropping open. Before either could react, Muffins strode inside. From the angle the little group was on, they couldn't see what was happening but all was quiet. "Muffins wouldn't go quietly, if something was wrong." Gel leaned down and kissed Twilight.

The alicorn Princess of Friendship strode forward boldly, her stallion left behind as she too froze at the doorway. As Gel reached her side, he saw what had stunned both mares.

"Hello, Gel, Twi." Applejack, wearing a full wedding dress, had Celestia standing just off to one side and Rarity, the canine Rarity, standing close but slightly back from her. The rest of the town was arrayed, Muffins tucked in to one side, wearing the second biggest smile of her life. "You made it just in time. Twilight, please accompany Rarity to get your dress fitted. Gel, I believe Rarity here," mirror Rarity stepped forth, "will handle your own fitting."

Both royal ponies were shocked at the lack of drawl from AJ and each surmised how nervous and excited she must be to be extra sure of her words. "But… we…" Twilight stood frozen, blinking at the wedding party that was waiting for another bride and a groom.

"Twily," Twilight Velvet gave her daughter a steady look, "you should really do what she says."

The Princess of Friendship's wings flew up, spreading in surprise before she followed Rarity. Gel turned to her more pony-like twin and followed her. Of the two, Twilight was the more careful to fit for, as Gel could literally fit into anything big enough to hold him. It was a whirlwind of effort, each being worked into their clothes, quick adjustments made as needed and before either knew they were pushed out to each end of the big ballroom. Gel was standing at the front, blinking up to Celestia.

"You should turn around and watch them, they deserve it." Celestia smiled at the startled prince, who at her advice did just that and turned.

"Oh sweet Celestia…" Gel was suddenly shocked, stunned. He watched as both his loves stood side by side. He watched as Applejack looked down Twilight's dress, then back up, ending the examination staring into Twilight's eyes. The earth pony couldn't stop herself, she leaned over and kissed Twilight, finding her life-long love's lips pressing back eagerly. "She loves her so much."

"She is searching for herself, she found Twilight on the way." Celestia had gotten used to ponies using her name in times of emotion. The two mares broke their kiss, each stealing a few more little pecks before breaking apart. Then Applejack turned and looked up the aisle, gazing at the stallion she would be bound to as well. Gel could see love in her eyes, not the adoration she reserved for Twilight, but he was perfectly happy with what she gave him.

Music started, carried not only by owl-song, but also a soft synth beat. Gel turned his attention to Twilight next, seeing in her eyes everything that anchored his heart to the world. Twilight Sparkle was the picture of perfection. Her dress, the little circlet on her head, it all only enhanced the beauty of the mare smiling and locking her eyes on him.

All three ponies watched each other as they drew nearer, the song, the crowd, it was all lost to them. Applejack's heart beat a million miles an hour, she wanted to gallop to the end of the hall, dragging Twilight with her. She looked at Gel, stared into his eyes. She saw love there and realized it meant a lot to her to see it, but she also felt her own reaction to it. The mare smiled wide.

Twilight's lips still tingled from her deep kiss with Applejack. She couldn't keep her wings down no matter what she did, so she just left them up. The looks she saw Gel giving Applejack, and AJ returning, warmed her heart. All too soon, as if they had teleported, the two of them were up and ascending the little platform.

"A mare came to me, lamenting that her partners had shared just a little ceremony, that the world hadn't given them enough time to properly bare their hearts, before their families." Celestia's voice carried easily, the Royal Canterlot Voice had its uses. "Applejack, you have something to say?"

AJ nodded to the princess and turned. "Friends, family. Sister." Her eyes landed on Apple Bloom, practically buzzing on pure willpower. "Brother." Big Mac was there, as ever, ready to watch out for his sis. "And Granny." She spotted Granny Smith, looking bright and excited. "Ah can't keep up that there fancy talk. Ah love all y'all, without family and friends this town would be nothing and I wouldn't be here ta thank y'all."

The simple words made a lot of smiles grow, she focused between the three who meant the most to her, saw 'Bloom bounce in excitement, Big Mac with Cheerilee at his side. She watched Granny shed a tear, then another.

A shoulder brushed up against Applejack's and she saw Gel, having to look up a little before she could lean up and nuzzle his cheek. "You welcomed me into your community, you let me into your hearts and lives. You let me steal two of the brightest flames and bring them closer to me. Thank you, Ponyville." Gel lowered his head in a bow, dropping to one knee and rising back up from the deep show of admiration.

Twilight stepped up on Applejack's other side. "Like Gel I was welcomed to Ponyville. Like Applejack I feel everypony is more than just a friend, you are all family." A sense of a power shot through the room, radiating out from Twilight into the very walls of the castle itself. "When I arrived tonight, I saw the town empty and it made me nearly weep. I love you all."

It was like a bolt of power radiated from Twilight, the walls of the castle started to glow, enhancing the light and the magic of the hall. Even Celestia was surprised, but not worried. "You all know these three ponies well, they share themselves with you all on a daily basis. Tell me, ponies of Ponyville, do any of you know a reason why they should not be wed?"

The hall was silent, even the crickets didn't chirp.

A puff of smoke admitted Discord at the end of the room, and all heads turned to look at him. "Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it." A chair appeared and the Element of Chaos reclined to watch the rest of the wedding.

Celestia smiled, sharing the warmth of her expression on all the ponies present. "Then let me begin with Gel Pattern. A stallion who, since his arrival in this world, struggled and railed to be a good pony. Despite rocky beginnings, he learned the value of friendship, love, and the goodness that comes with both." The white alicorn turned to Twilight and AJ. "You will be his wives, will you accept him?"

The reversal of normal procedure surprised all three engaged ponies. Twilight looked to Applejack with a smile, getting the same back. Together they nodded. "We do."

"Applejack. No finer representation of honesty have I found throughout all my life. To see you smile is to know that you are truly happy, to hear your laughter is to know that you find mirth. You have given Equestria more than it might ever know." Celestia looked from Gel to Twilight. "So then, Prince Gel Pattern, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Will you take this wonderful mare to be your wife?"

Gel stole a moment, he leaned down and kissed Applejack's cheek. "Of course I will."

Twilight grinned at the obvious affection between the two, it reminded her of her time growing to love Gel. "I do, of course I do!"

The details of the twin wedding Cadance had managed, with a triad of ponies involved, had stirred Celestia to come up with something to match. "Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship. Former Element Bearer of Magic. My pupil. Twilight Velvet and Night Light's foal. Shining Armor's little sister. Protector of Ponyville, of Equestria, of the world." Celestia had worked on that one, she had decided that the next time Twilight was to stand in her official capacity, her title would be at least as long as her own. "You have put yourself forward as the protector of ponies, of your friends, even of creatures you thought were your enemy." Celestia leaned forward and kissed Twilight's forehead. "Gel, Applejack. Please tell me you will protect and guard this mare, to ensure Twilight can continue to grow into her wings, into her hooves."

"For as long as I live."

"Ah will."

Twilight's eyes were wide, hearing the promises from her loved ones, hearing the raw emotion not only in their voices, but in Celestia's, it almost overwhelmed her.

"Then there is nothing for me to say. You are already wed, by your own words, by your actions. Please, show your friends and family your bond, by kissing." Celestia felt the tears in her eyes, centuries as head of state had hardened her to a lot of what life could throw, but in a few short years the actions and ripples that Twilight Sparkle had left in the world eroded that and she let the dampness flow.

The cheer as the three snouts met in a kiss was deafening, approval radiated from every pony, reflecting from the walls of the crystal castle, spreading togetherness like a wave. The three took no notice, they were far too focused on each other to realize that a few ponies had joined them on the dais.

"Son, I would tell you that you have kissed them enough, but I doubt that will ever be true. But come on, you can continue that upstairs." Night Light stepped up beside Gel, surprising the changeling that there was more to the world than his two wives.

Both Twilight Velvet and Velvet Touch flanked Princess Twilight. With her husband's lips broken she stayed locked to Applejack's, wanting to show her long-time friend and now wife, just how much she cared for her. A dark snout reached up to her ear. "You are going to need air soon." Velvet gave a slight chuckle, even as Twi's mother slipped up on the other side and they started to lead Twilight Sparkle after her stallion, up the stairs.

Left alone, Applejack watched the two ponies, her husband and wife, leave the room. "Don't you think for one cotton-pickin' minute that Ah ain't gonna march you up them stairs after 'em." Granny Smith was at her side, the cantankerous old mare wearing a grin from ear to ear. "Your mother would be proud."

"Eeyup." McIntosh was on her other side, the gentle giant of a stallion giving her only a bit of room. In her enthusiasm, AJ pecked each on the cheek and was led by her family up, toward her expanded family.

"Sunset Shimmer? What has happened to you?" Celestia had managed to get past her tears with sheer willpower, and of course having the three newlyweds out of the room helped. She was about to start to create more light to better see the other alicorn's odd color change when a dark wing spread from a nearby thestral.

"Please, Your Highness, don't work your power here. We would not survive." Mademoiselle tried to give some measure of cover to her filly, despite that it would mean her own certain death. "We were meant to rendezvous in Canterlot, but it seems events carried that meeting to here."

Celestia let her magic drain back away from her horn. "And you are?" She tasted a foul sense from the dark pegasus of the night, something she had been reading reports of recently led her to a conclusion, but it was one that she immediately questioned. "You are a vampony… and so is Sunset?"

"Mademoiselle, Your Highness. Royal Cook by appointment of yourself, teacher of Deathly Stare, Knight of the Crystal Empire. And protector and teacher, now, to Sunset Shimmer." Maddie pulled her wing back and took a bow before the princess whose element meant her certain death. "I am a vampony, as is Sunset. It was this or she would have lain dead at my child's hooves."

"I feel no danger from you, or Sunset. You mention your child, they were the source of the… reports? I will hold you at your word, since my peers," Celestia's eyes flicked upwards to indicate Twilight and Gel, "didn't have you under guard."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I promise you, like I did Princesses Cadance and Shining, that I will take from none coerced, and none against their will." Mademoiselle smiled, showing the princess that she carried the requisite mouth-cutlery of her kind. "I promise as well, my… former child, will not rise to darken ponies again." Celestia could see the raw pain on the mare's features and divined its source.

"You loved him, your colt?" Maddie nodded sadly to Celestia's question. "It is understandable, a mother's love is not something that carries a condition. Thank you, for doing the right thing."

Mademoiselle felt shocked when a white wing reached around her, she felt at first like she needed to run, to bolt from this princess who was her antithesis. But instead, the comfort, the warmth… tears flowed.

"Let's find you a room, I gather something... downstairs, would suit?" Celestia kept her wing around the pony, feeling a kinship for the mare that she vaguely remembered, over a thousand years ago, appointing to her kitchen.

Author's Note

There, I managed to live through it. Please excuse me, I need to go cry into a whiskey for an hour to get the feels out.

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