The bride-to-be looked to her left and right as she walked down the aisle wearing the wedding gown of her own design, recognizing everypony on her side as her extended or close family and friends from Ponyville and Canterlot, including her five best friends in the whole world – Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and finally Princess Twilight Sparkle.

The three other Princesses of Equestria had also been invited to attend and had accepted; Princess Luna sat watching the proceedings, with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or 'Cadence' as she preferred to be called, and her husband Prince Shining Armor to Luna's left.

On Neon Lights' side were much fewer ponies, just a few of his fellow DJ friends and club ponies or few other friends he'd made through his travels, as well as his parents whom Rarity had met earlier. He never was much of a socialite, always so focused on finding his purpose than making friends, like another certain bookworm-loner-turned-Princess that Rarity knew all too well, and that fact now showing by how few wedding guests he had. He told Rarity that he hoped that could change now, planning to settle down in Ponyville with his wife and daughter, forsaking his nomadic lifestyle for one of stability; of community.

As the wedding song met its end and Rarity refocused her attention, not even really watching where she was going as she'd surveyed the crowd, she found that she stood in front of the alter facing her groom, with Hondo Flanks, her father, having guided her there and smiling as he gave her away to her groom. Neon Lights was standing in front of the alter in a tuxedo, three ponies flanking him to his right, his best men. He eagerly watched as Rarity, his bride-to-be, walked the aisle before ending up right in front of him at the alter.

"Ladies and gentlecolts," Celestia said, standing behind the pulpit and acting as the authority of the wedding herself at Rarity's request, "Today we are gathered here to join these two ponies, Rarity Belle and Neon Lights, together in joyous matrimony. If anypony here has a valid reason they should not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

As they gave a moment for objections, which they all knew wouldn't come, Rarity could only look up into her stallion's eyes through the veil, looking deeply into those deep blues that so strongly looked like her own; looking into the oceanic pools she'd many times before nearly drowned in, almost consumed by them once more before she brought herself back to the surface to breathe, letting out a held-in breath of anticipation in a quiet woosh.

"Very well. As there are no objections, we shall commence. Please bring forth the rings." As Celestia finished and called for the horn-ring, with them being used as a sign of marital unity by unicorns for millennia, Sweetie Belle, Rarity's little sister, brought the pillow with two gold rings, each ring having a careful selection of gems. Rarity's had a pattern of diamonds arranged like those of her Cutie-mark, a ring of smaller diamonds surrounding it. Neon Light's had one moderate diamond in the center of the gold band, and that's all he'd wanted. A simple request for a simple stallion.

At long last, the moment all had been waiting for had arrived. "Rarity, do you take this stallion Neon Lights to be yours, to love and care for, so long as you both shall live?" Celestia asked as she turned to Rarity.

"I do!" Rarity exclaimed, her teary eyes never leaving the eyes of Neon, the stallion she loved and would forever be one with.

Smiling, Celestia then turned to Neon Lights. "...and do you, Neon Lights, take this mare Rarity to be yours, to love and care for, so long as you both shall live?" Celestia asked, getting a nod from him.

"I do." Neon replied meekly, then looking back to his soon-to-be wife, the mare who had stolen his heart and had been the proud carrier of his foal, his daughter, and tied for most beloved pony to him beside her.

They then placed their rings on each others' horns with their magic and after pressed their horn to the other's, the act an ultimate sign of love among unicorns and showing their unity to each other to everypony, a soft glow of their combined magic surging through both their horns for a moment, combining above them in a heart of their joined magical energies and auras' colors.

"Then by the power vested in me, I hereby pronounce you mare and stallion, Mister and Missus Neon Lights!" Celestia announced, to applause from the crowd. "You may now kiss the bride."

Neon Lights lifted Rarity's vale to the cheers and applause of the audience, gazing into her eyes for but a moment before lowering his lips to her muzzle. His lips landed right on target on Rarity's lips to another round of hooves stomping the floor, whistles, and cheers. They'd had plenty of practice in kissing in the past months, after all.

As he broke the kiss moments later, Neon simply chose to hold his now-wife close to him in an tight hug, his eyes closed, a single tear rolling down his cheek as he felt Rarity's hoof wrap around his crest, with him feeling a certain wetness on his own neck that could only be happy tears of her own. Subsequently, they all heard a rather distinctly stallion's bawling coming loudly from the audience, followed by a quiet shushing. Clearly, Rarity and Neon weren't the only ponies crying at the wedding.

Shortly after, Rarity climbed on Neon's back and was carried out of the chapel, followed by the guests into the front yard. Upon everyone arriving, Rarity tossed her bouquet out into the crowd, all the single mares clamoring to get it, but a blond head popped up victorious, the floral bouquet held confusedly...in Applejack's muzzle. Rarity merely gave the confuzzled mare a wink, knowing she'd had eyes on a particular stallion for quite a while...

The couple then went into their 'Just Married' carriage, seen off with the throwing of rice and joined with cheers. Everypony followed the carriage to the reception hall, eager to get on with the celebration for the new couple.

~ ~ ~

"Congratulations!" Rarity's mother, Cookie Crumbles, said, wrapping Rarity then her husband in a tight, excited hug; "It looks like Silky Beats is excited too! She wouldn't stop squirming during the ceremony!"

As Rarity looked down to her foal, she saw that her daughter was smiling very widely upon seeing her mother and father. "Mama! Dad!" Silky cried out happily, being over six months old now and quite a little talker. She didn't know exactly what had happened, but she sure knew her family was excited and it was quite contagious to the little filly! [As Rarity looked down to her daughter, she once more saw her pale-cornflower-blue coat, her mane and tail naturally, lightly curled like her aunt Sweetie Belle's instead of heavily like her mother's, longer and a dark violet-blue instead of Sweetie's short curls of light pink and purple.

Silky's deep-azure-blue eyes, having taken them after her mother, were crinkled up in joy to match the huge smile on her muzzle as she pranced around happily, not knowing why she was happy, but feeding off that everypony else was happy.](http://img03.deviantart.net/4902/i/2016/271/d/2/silky_beats__rarity_x_neon_lights__standing_by_dahalonut-daj8d4v.png) Unlike many other species, ponies carried over many traits from their prey-animal ancestors, needing to be able to escape predators very soon after birth, able to walk and non-verbally communicate within minutes of birth, then trot and run within hours. Speaking verbally, however, took a few months generally, but this little girl was right on track.

"Hey my little princess Silky!" Neon cooed, reaching down to nuzzle his daughter's muzzle, rubbing noses with her while she lay on her back. He got a happy squeal from her as he did, her grabbing his muzzle in as tight of a hug as her little arms could muster. Every time Neon saw his foal, his beautiful little girl, or felt her embrace him or show him love – every time he played with her and heard her laugh her clear, beautiful laugh or saw her smile at him – he couldn't believe she was his. He still couldn't believe how such a lowly pony as he could have helped produce such a beautiful little filly with a mare so perfect, successful, and utterly radiant as Rarity, and not only that, he was now married to such a mare!

"Daddy!" Silky cried out again happily, "Dad! Mom! Daddy!" Each repetition got more excited, until finally it ended with another excited squeal, her running around in circles around her parents.

"Well, somepony's excited," Coco Pommel said, walking up with her own two little twin fillies, one a unicorn like her father and the other an Earth-pony like her mother, and husband trailing behind her. Coco was beaming almost as much as Rarity was that her friend was now married to her beloved stallion, "...and I don't just mean your beautiful daughter! You're positively glowing dear!" she said to Rarity, then turned to Neon, "It took you and Rarity long enough to finally tie the knot! It's been nearly a year since you started dating!"

Rarity nodded. "Yes, well as you know, we both wanted to be certain for such a huge step in our lives. We had discussed getting married when I was ten months along with little Silky here, but we just felt it wasn't right, having only gone on a few dates at that time and still wondering how my sometimes-staccato work schedule would affect the relationship."

Neon then took over. "But after Silky was born however, I believe that's when we took our relationship more seriously, both for our sake and our foal's. Then finally, these many months later after her birth, we felt the time was right; that we truly loved each other and wanted to be together forever. That's when I asked for her hoof in marriage, and to be my wife and mare. She said yes, obviously, and here we are." Neon said, and at that, Rarity reached over and gave her stallion another brief kiss on the lips, nuzzling into him affectionately after.

"Yes, well, I suppose not all couples can have the 'true love at first sight' Moonie here and I shared." Coco said, nuzzling her own mate. Meanwhile Coco and Moon's two twin fillies, Lacey Havelock and Satin Seam, ran over to play with Silken Beats, the three having become fast friends when they'd first met each other. As Rarity looked on, she saw the three fillies running at a full gallop, and which one squealed happily she couldn't be sure. She saw again that Lacy Havelock had a brilliant amber coat and her mane was dark aquamarine with a streak of bright cyan; her mane and tail were spiked like her father's, but also longer and hung looser. Satin Seam, meanwhile, had a pale amber coat much like her mother Coco's if slightly darker, her two-tone opal-blue mane and tail mostly straight like her mother's yet slightly spiky like her father's, her hair bouncing stiffly as she ran. Finally, both twins shared the same hue of beautiful blue eyes that their parents did, one's a few shades darker. While not the identical twins Coco had originally thought they might be, she loved them just the same of course.

"I suppose foals will be foals, huh?" Rarity commented, watching as the three ran off and were being watched by Rarity's father; "Didn't I tell you little Silky would be a rambunctious one even while she was still in the womb? I swear she's going to be another Rainbow Dash..." she said, getting a chuckle from Coco and Dark Moon.

"That you did, Rarity, that you did." Coco replied with another chuckle, just as Rarity's quintet of best friends walked up, led by Twilight Sparkle.

~ ~ ~

After many hours of feasting and celebration, and sharing their first dance together as a married couple – with Silken tired out from a long day of playing with her friends and now asleep on Neon's back – Rarity and Neon said their 'farewells' and 'thank yous' before they once more boarded their carriage and now headed off to their all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Canterlot, a generous combined gift from Coco Pommel and Rarity's parents. Silky was meanwhile lifted off Neon's back and left in the trustworthy hooves of Rarity's parents, who had wholeheartedly volunteered to watch her and spend time with their first grandchild while the two took their honeymoon.

They'd also arranged for their other bountiful gifts, which she was just as grateful for, to be transferred to her and Neon's shared home in Ponyville. Though it wasn't a castle with servants like she'd always dreamed of as a filly, nor did this marriage come with a royal title attached to it, Rarity was still very happy. She loved Neon and her daughter, and wouldn't trade them for any prince or duke in Equestria, nor any amount of Bits or any title.

"So, that surely was something else, wasn't it my Prince? Such a wonderful wedding for a wonderful stallion..." Rarity asked, her eyes lidded wearily as the long, emotional day took its toll on her.

"...and such a beautiful mare...we're married now my Princess! I'm so happy..." Neon said, finishing her sentence, reaching for and receiving another kiss on the lips as he said his pet name for her. She'd revealed her old foalhood fantasy to him long ago of marrying royalty but choosing him instead, and he did his best to treat her like the princess she always had dreamed of being, obliging her by calling her by that title and letting her call him her prince in return. Both knew it was only pet names though, not delusionally thinking that they were actually in those positions. "I knew since that first day we met in the bar that we were meant to be together. I'm so happy you finally saw it too."

After another brief kiss it was comfortably quiet for a while save for the occasional bump in the road, the two left to their own thoughts. Neon was wondering as he so often did how he'd been so lucky as to be chosen by Rarity to be sire to her foal, even if that wasn't intentional at the time. At least not consciously, that is.

Rarity, however, made her thoughts more vocal. "So Neon, what would you think if I wanted another foal, then another, until we had at least three little foals running around?" Rarity asked suddenly, taking Neon somewhat off-guard. They'd never discussed having more children besides Silky, though it would seem Rarity certainly had been thinking it. Neon was silent himself as the only sound in the carriage's cabin was once more the muffled sounds made by the hooves of the draw-ponies pulling it, and the occasional jar as a wheel hit a loose rock or bump in the road, thinking about what Rarity had just proposed.

"Well, it is traditional for 'royalty' to have large families, right?" Neon asked with a smile, surprised that he hadn't been tackled on the spot for agreeing to have a larger family by the look on her face...though he himself hoped she didn't want to stop at only three.

"You're the best prince I could ever hope for, never leaving his mare wanting...!" Rarity said in an over-dramatic voice, giving him a genuine smile and another, longer kiss on the lips. She was already thinking of which estrus period would give them the best chance, though she already knew her family to be quite fertile; after all, Sweetie Bell had been unplanned as well. "...do you think next spring would be the best time to try for another foal? I do believe that is when a mare is most fertile after all."

Neon was somewhat hesitant on trying for another foal so soon, but also knew that Rarity was a famous fashionista, owner of two successful boutiques and seeking to open a third. He knew money would be no issue, and also knew that he would gladly take the role of 'house dad' if so needed. "Whenever you're ready, I'll be right by your side...or on your back as it were." Neon quipped with a quirked eyebrow and cheeky grin, getting a chuckle from Rarity.

"Mmm, and that's just how it will be when the time comes for our second foal; you atop me, giving me your foal as nature intended!" Rarity said, giving a smirk of her own; "'Pounding me into the mattress' and 'putting your foal in my womb', as I believe I said our first night together. If I'm not mistaken, it'll be the same thing we'll be doing once we reach the hotel, save for the 'foal' part." Rarity said, giving Neon the most bedroom of eyes; "After all, you know what everypony says about the honeymoon...and I intend to prove them right."

As Rarity brought up that night they'd met and shared her room, bed, and body, resulting in their bond and indeed their child, Neon smiled brightly, nuzzling against his new wife and hugging her closely to him. "I'm just so glad I met you in that club that night..." Neon said, smiling as he accepted another kiss from Rarity as they embraced, a kiss from his wife and mother to his foal interrupting his speech; a kiss from the mare he'd protect even if it meant he would lay his own life down for her, the mare he loved beyond all others. A mare he'd mount and rut roughly if she so demanded it, its only goal being to try to fill her womb with new life again, or passionately making love to her as he lay her down in his bed, before reaching their peak together with a loving kiss. He didn't know which would come tonight, but the way Rarity was already grinding against him and the scent of her arousal already apparent in the coach, he knew it would likely be both; knowing their life together would come with much love-making but so much more than that as well. Many foals to teach and love, and many days to spend together. As a family. His family.

"...after all, none of this would have happened if not for that night in the Bass-Ment..."

Author's Note

For anypony who didn't notice, the description of Silky Beats is actually a URL to a picture I created of her.

...and that's it. Story's done, hope you enjoyed it! As always, please feel free to share praise, constructive criticism or other discussions in the comments.

Thanks again to Nian for the commission and also for commissioning an epilogue chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed both as well.

I am accepting paid commissions. If you'd like me to write a commission for you as well, please read my blog post on commissioning me for how to do so.

Until next time, au revoir, et bonne journee!