As the sun finally faded and dusk took hold, Mathias waited outside Twilight's chambers for her to finish getting dressed. As he leaned against a nearby pillar, he rubbed his left leg with his right hoof, a small quirk he primarily displayed when he was nervous. He was dressed up in his formal attire, a ceremonial blade at his waistline.

Spike then popped the door open and gave Mathias a nod as he came out, wearing his dragon-size suit and top hat.

"Not too shabby, Spike." Mathias smiled. "A little...drab, but it'll be fine. That's probably because I'm used to seeing and wearing attire...like this."

"Well, that's good to know." Spike shrugged. "I've never cared much for fancy clothes anyway."

"Now you're speaking clearly." Mathias chuckled. "I hate wearing this attire. It's too tight, too form-fitting...it seems I also prefer the simpler side of clothing."

Spike was about to reply, when the door opened. Mathias let his jaw drop at the sight of his betrothed. Twilight was wearing a periwinkle blue dress with white and gold highlights and embroidery. A set of fabric roses lay at her chestline, and the skirt was done perfectly in lace and ruffles at the hemline.

"You look astounding, Twilight." Mathias smiled, offering his hoof to escort her. "Shall we?"

Twilight blushed and accepted his hoof, but she couldn't stop herself from nodding appreciatively at Mathias's words. As they walked side by side down the hallway, Spike sitting on Twilight's back, just like old times, Twilight gave a small smile of gratitude to her escort and betrothed, though he did not notice it.

====

"Wow." was all Spike could manage to say at first, once the three of them arrived in the Palace ballroom, which was already packed with Cydonian nobles, occupied by dining and drinking. "This place is huge."

The ballroom was at least two times the size of the ballroom in Canterlot Palace, and somehow even more ornately decorated with gold, silver, and engravings in the pillars. Those pillars held up a massive domed roof painted to look like the Aurora Borealis in the night sky. Several tables of food and drink were set out across the area, and a grand balcony that held the table of honor finished the grand scene.

Twilight let her jaw drop at the sight of this, until Mathias gently nudged her in the side, snapping her out of her trance. She composed herself, nodded to her betrothed and Spike, and they set out for the table of honor, where King Orion, Lily, Alexander, and Catherine were already sitting, overseeing the revelry and enjoyment in front of them.

"Ah, Twilight, how are things so far?" Alexander asked as she, Spike, and Mathias sat down in oaken chairs inlaid with gold carving. Twilight was silent for a few moments, preparing her answer, but she roon spoke.

"Everything's strange but so wonderful and accommodating." Twilight replied. "To be welcomed so warmly here and to have all this done for me...I'm very grateful."

"Our pleasure and honor, Twilight. And don't worry, anything you need, we'll see it done." Orion said, smiling as the Cydonian Praetor Guards filed in to their posts, Ceris among them sending a nod to Mathias as if to reassure him.

"Thank you, King Orion." she replied. Orion nodded in approval before standing up and tapping his goblet three times, causing a hush to fall over the room, the guests ready to hear the King's words.

"I thank you all for coming to this celebration, set in honor of the Treaty of Agamid ." Orion proclaimed. "I thank Princess Twilight Sparkle and young Spike for their presence here, which assures me that Equestria and Cydonia will endure a lasting friendship and state of cooperation between our nations."

"Now, without further ado, we shall celebrate tonight!" Orion raised his goblet, and the ball began with a sudden uproar of sound as the dining and dancing resumed. As Twilight and the others were served their preferred meals, Twilight smiled as she sipped her goblet of pale red wine.

"That was a good choice." Alexander leaned over, speaking to Twilight. "In Cydonia, often it's the case that the lighter the shade of wine, the less potent it is."

"Thanks, Alexander. I wouldn't want to make a mistake due to personal inebriation." she shrugged awkwardly.

"It's quite alright." Orion replied. "Often many of the nobles here drink the lesser wine first, before the dance, then the potent wine when the dancing is concluded. An odd but reasonable practice."

"Odd?" Spike asked. "Why's it odd?"

"Because if they drink themselves to a stupor and make a scene of themselves, often they take up less of a Guardspony's time then than before that." Orion nodded. "I've heard rumors that the Guards make wagers with each other, based on the status of the ponies they expel if they grow too rowdy."

"Is there any truth to those rumors?" Twilight asked, surprised. Something like that would be unheard of in the Solar, Lunar, or Crystal Guards.

"To a point." Alexander replied in mirth. "I've seen them at it. With luck, it won't have to happen tonight."

"Is guests being thrown out of a ball a common thing?" Spike said after swallowing a chunk of lightly toasted bread.

"Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends on the occasion." Orion chuckled. "Shall we open the dance floor soon, Twilight? It's celebrating your arrival, after all."

Twilight nodded, and Mathias gently held her hoof.

"I'll lead when we dance, okay?" he whispered. "But if you want, I can open it myself."

"I'll do it." Twilight replied back. "How do I get their attention?"

"Three taps on the goblet should do." Orion suggested. Twilight did so, and the attendees quieted to listen.

"Well, I'm not exactly the best at speeches…" Twilight replied. "But I do think it's time we open the dance floor and stretch our legs a bit."

"But before we begin, I'd like to say a few words." she continued. "When I first learned of the treaty that would bring me here, I was frightened, fearful, reluctant to leave my home in Ponyville, in Equestria behind."

"Now, I can say that those fears have been put to rests." she smiled. "I thank King Orion and his children for such a warm welcome, and I thank all of you for being here. Now, shall we begin?"

There was a brief sounding of warm applause, and Twilight nodded in acknowledgement. As she accepted Mathias's hood and they proceeded to the dance floor, Twilight quickly let her mind wonder something that had been consistently occupying her thoughts for a while.

"I wonder what's going on back in Equestria?..."

====

That same evening, as Princess Celestia looked over her work and several letters from the nobles, she perked her ears up at hearing rapid, angry hoofsteps echo towards her office door. As she furrowed her brow, the doors blasted open.

Prince Shining Armor, Twilight's brother and ruler of the Crystal Empire stormed in, a veritable cloud of anger above him, who was then followed by a very concerned-looking Princess Cadance.

"What is the meaning of this, Celestia!?" he roared in anger. "What did you do with my sister!? Answer me!"

"Shiny, please calm down!" Cadance pleaded with her husband as he swept the documents off of Celestia's desk with a single swipe of his hoof, Celestia not even flinching from his actions. "You're starting to scare me."

Shining, upon hearing those words, took in a breath and stepped back, gently cupping his wife's cheek before hugging her lightly.

"I'm sorry." he mumbled. Then, he turned to Celestia with unbridled fury in his eyes.

"I take it you heard of the Cydonian's arrival and Twilight's betrothal?" Celestia asked.

"Who hasn't?" Shining retorted angrily. "Imagine how I reacted when I heard that you married off my little sister because of a stupid treaty made over ten centuries ago! What in Faust's name were you thinking!?..."

Celestia then interrupted Shining with a harsh slap to the cheek, sending him to the ground. As he stood back up in anger, Celestia flared her wings and ignited her horn, cloaking herself in magical energy as a show of power.

"Silence, Shining Armor!" she bellowed. "And do not DARE speak the name of the Goddess in such a way! You know better than that!"

Shining nodded as Celestia eased up, ending her display of magic. As she turned to the window, she sighed.

"Shining Armor, know this was not how I intended for it to proceed." she said. "I did not know that it would be my dear student and your sister that would ascend four months, let alone ten centuries ago! I signed the Treaty of Agamid and gave Saladin my word, and now I have kept it."

"You should have told us!" Shining replied in a dark tone. "Cadance and I didn't even get to meet this Prince Mathias, let alone see my sister off to his country! We should have been there!"
"I do understand your anger, and I regret my message did not arrive in time." Celestia said quietly. "But control your temper, Prince Shining Armor. It is unbefitting of you."

"Unbefitting?" he asked in an incredulous tone. "I think my temper is the least of your worries right now! Why shouldn't I lose my temper right about now after what you did?"

"Shining Armor Sparkle!" Cadance replied sternly, silencing her husband, knowing she rarely if ever, used his full name to address him. "You didn't know this would be the case then, and you couldn't have known it would happen now. You can't change what's happened, even if you're mad about it. I'm mad too, furious even, because she's my sister as well! When did you forget that?"

Shining was rendered silent as he staggered to sit on a nearby couch, realizing what he had cast aside in his anger.

"I'm sorry." he said as Cadance came over and leaned against him, placing her head on his left shoulder. "Forgive me, Celestia. I was too hasty."

"I forgive you, but allow me to give you the circumstances upon which this happened, both from now and in the past." Celestia replied. She took in a breath, and spoke.

"When we first made contact with the Cydonians, to them, the fledgling Equestria would have been a prime taking for them. They could have easily conquered us, burned our lands, and torn the newly made capital of Canterlot down to the last stone."

"But they chose to shepherd us through the world's course and the dangers it provided." she continued. "They showed us how to grow proper crops that would not die in the winter, how to dredge dams and move rivers, and even began clearing the once-overgrown tangle that would be the Everfree forest."

"And when invaders did arrive, the Cydonians defended us and repulsed our foes, time and time again. Together, our nations could have conquered the world with Equestrian magic and Cydonian steel."

"But we followed the example of our ally, and pursued peace where there could have been war. And before the battle of Agamid, the Griffon king, when he launched his first invasion, declared I would be his...concubine, our people enslaved, and our lands burned."

"The Cydonians and King Saladin declared this would not be so, they had given us their lives and blood before, and they would give it again now. The resulting battle, Shining Armor, the battle of Agamid...changed me. I saw Ponies from both nations and Griffons alike torn apart, limb from limb, by the hate and strife of war. King Saladin and I slew the Griffon King in combat together during the third hour. That battle instilled in me a hatred of war that lasts to this day, over one thousand years after that living Tartarus made real that we called the plain of Agamid.."

"In the end, when Saladin and I drafted the treaty, they could have asked for anything, and I would have given it to them without second thought. Gold, jewels, land, food, it did not matter. But...they only asked for the fourth Alicorn when it was said and done, and I promised them they would receive whoever it was."

"Now, that oath is fulfilled at long last." Celestia finished. "The Cydonians waited over one thousand years for this moment, and I will not deprive them of this, no matter what comes of it. I am asking you to be patient, both of you. I am asking you...to trust me."

Shining, for all his anger, could only nod, Cadance nodding with him.

"I will make sure you receive a prompt passage to Cydonia tomorrow morning at dawn." Celestia continued. "Prepare yourselves accordingly, as they wear clothes at all hours. To arrive unclothed would be a mistake."

"We'll remember." Shining replied. "I suppose you'll want us to stay here in Canterlot tonight?"

"Yes." Celestia nodded. "It would ease your travels considerably. Also, you may take whatever Guards you require. Though I would advise you to prepare them for a diplomatic reception. Now, you may leave. Goodnight."

Shining and Cadance nodded as they left, and soon, all was quiet once again. As Celestia continued to work, sitting down at her desk, she could only sigh and wipe away a stray tear.

Author's Note

Update!

Next time - Shining and Cadance travel to Cydonia, and when they arrive, Mathias struggles to gain Shining's favor.