CRISIS: Equestria - Bonus Chapters

Chapters

CRISIS: Equestira - Chapter 28.5
CRISIS: Equestria - Chapter 40.3
CRISIS: Equestria - Chapter 40.6
CRISIS: Equestria - Chapter 40.9

CRISIS: Equestira - Chapter 28.5

CRISIS: Equestria

Chapter Twenty-Eight-and-a-Half: Interlude

It was late in the evening when Queen Blackburn decided it was finally time to make her move. The hospital staff had been carefully diverted in one way or another, and Blackburn had ensured, with Gadget’s assistance, that Lockwood’s room would not be disturbed further for the remainder of the evening. Blackburn could only wait so long, after all; but she felt that at the very least, Lockwood deserved to wake up to have his first visitor be his best friend and adoptive brother, Flathoof.

The other mare, Fluttershy, that was a different story. That she was with Flathoof at all—that Lockwood’s brother thought that mare deserved first visitation over the others in their group, even Twilight Sparkle, who’d performed surgery on Lockwood, was confusing at first. Then, she thought about it; if Flathoof hadn’t been here, she’d have made sure to be here first; everything she was about to do, she’d done hours ago.

First, there was her outfit, both before and after arriving in the city. Before, her skirt was too short and made her look like, in the bluntest terms, an escort; one that appealed to a very specific crowd that liked innocent-looking mares, but one nonetheless. Her new outfit—which had been bought on her bits thanks to Briarthorn—was decidedly less-so, but that didn’t mean much. She’d been particularly concerned about Lockwood when she observed the goings-on at the gate, too.

Then, of course, Lockwood’s injury. Lockwood wasn’t one to let himself get injured without good cause; he wasn’t a great flyer, sure, but he didn’t have a habit of crashing that badly. He’d gotten it in the Blood Mire, that was obvious, and, knowing Lockwood as well as she did, Blackburn made a very simple guess: he’d protected the mare from one of the creatures that inhabited that place and had been crippled doing so.

Blackburn wasn’t going to speculate too far beyond that without more information, but at the moment her mind was racing with possibilities. The mare clearly felt concern for Lockwood beyond that of many of her comrades, and it was a fairly worthwhile guess that it was guilt driving a great deal of that concern. But she knew, oh, she knew there had to be more than guilt there. But she had no proof just yet.

So, when she, Gadget, and Crossfire snuck through the hospital hallways to reach Lockwood’s room, Blackburn put the thoughts aside; there’d be time for it later. She reached his hospital room’s door and gave it a very distinct knock: their special knock.

“Come in!” Lockwood called back.

Lockwood lay in his hospital bed looking only somewhat comfortable, a calm smile on his face. Blackburn and her entourage entered the room and closed the door behind them, so they could be alone and have the privacy they needed.

“Lockwood…” Blackburn murmured, giving him a sympathetic look. “How are you feeling?” She already knew the answer and knew it was a dumb question, but she couldn’t help herself from asking it.

“Oh, just fine,” he replied with a grin; she knew when he was lying, unless he’d gotten better at it over the years. “Sorry I didn’t write ahead of time but—”

“Not my concern,” Blackburn dismissed. “You’re here now.”

“And you’re hurt you stupid idiot,” Gadget huffed, stepping forward and gesutring at his crippled wing. “What happened to ‘staying safe’, huh? I thought I made you promise me that you weren’t gonna do anything stupid and get yourself hurt.”

Lockwood frowned. “I did the best I could, Gadget. Circumstances got kind of… out of control. I made my choice, and I don’t regret it, but… yeah, I’m sorry.”

“An’ ya look like y’all’re barely more’n bones,” Crossfire snorted, walking over to the other side of his bed to point at his thin frame. “Dagnabit, Lockwood, y’all were s’posed ta eat right ‘n’ healthy but ya look like ta haven’t eaten in weeks.”

“Well, that’s pretty close to the truth, actually,” Lockwood said with a polite, embarrassed grin. “We, uh… we ran into a lot of trouble on the way here, lost our supplies more times than I can count. The others didn’t eat anything either—”

“They have now,” Blackburn interjected. “On my bits, courtesy of Briarthorn. New clothes as well, on my bits, courtesy of Briarthorn.” She snorted and shook her head. “Going to throttle him next time I see him.”

“Don’t be too hard on him, Blackburn, he means well,” Lockwood said with a smile.

Blackburn paused, then moved forward, unable to keep herself back any longer, giving him a loving hug. Gadget and Crossfire joined in the hug, which was kind of awkward given their positions, but it was done nonetheless.

When she broke from the hug, Blackburn wrinkled her nose. “Alcohol. You’re not supposed to be drinking.”

Lockwood gulped weakly. “Listen, Blackburn—”

“No, you don’t have to explain. Your brother, not a drinker as I recall. Other mare: Fluttershy.” She shook her head, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves; it was taking a lot of effort not to show how angry she was. “Trust that it wasn’t your idea.”

Lockwood blinked. “No, it wasn’t. I tried to stop her—”

“Don’t. Explaining further will just get me angrier.” She sighed and gestured towards the gauze over his eye. “Wish to see it.”

“No, you don’t—” he started, looking away from her so as not to meet her eyes.

Blackburn put her hoof against his; his embarrassment and shame were unwarranted, and she wanted him to know that. “Yes, I do. I want to see everything that happened. Your friends want to know what happened.”

Gadget and Crossfire both agreed with nods and smiles.

“Really, it’s not—” Lockwood started again.

“Lockwood. Please.” Blackburn repeated. “Whatever happened will not affect my love for you. But I need to know. I have to see.”

Lockwood took a deep breath and sighed, then nodded and removed the gauze. Gadget gasped; Crossfire grunted quietly in disapproval. Blackburn, however, was reactionless, despite the sight. The white of his eye was completely red; his iris and pupil had shrunk dramatically into just a small black dot.

Blackburn recalled the information she read in Doctor Heartthrob’s notes. His wing was, at least to Lockwood, a relatively non-issue; for a pegasis, Lockwood spent too much time on the ground for his own good anyway, and Blackburn knew that, with time, she could get some developments done to get him a functional, artificial wing. Other pegasi used them here and there, but Blackburn would get Lockwood the top of the top-of-the-line.

The eye, however, was a total loss. Lockwood could no longer see out of it, despite the pupil still focusing where he was looking as if nothing had happened. Artificial eyes could be used, certainly; a high-class contact lens might even suffice. But no matter what they did, he couldn’t see from it ever again, and the eye had lost the beautiful gold that Blackburn had fallen in love with.

Inwardly, Blackburn was both absolutely livid that Lockwood had been injured so grievously protecting somepony else, and horrified at the extent of the injuries he’d received. But she didn’t show it; over the years, she’d made many hard decisions, spoken with many ponies whose loved ones had died because of her actions, and through it all, she’d become better at keeping her emotions in check. There was little these days that phased her enough to make her react.

“Will discuss options with you on treatment,” Blackburn said quietly.

“I was thinking maybe an eyepatch?” Lockwood said, replacing the bandage. “After all, your little city here has a bit of a reputation as being home to a bunch of traitors, pirates, and savages. Might as well complete the image, eh?”

“Silver linings? Ha.” Blackburn shook her head. “Even now you joke.”

“Would you have it any other way?”

“Never.”

There was a brief moment of quiet.

“You’ve been in the hospital long enough,” Blackburn continued. “Cleared you to leave.”

Lockwood raised an eyebrow. “Already? Wow, you do work fast. Can’t say that’s surprising...” He smiled. “So… I take it you’re moving me to some nicer digs, then?”

“That would be accurate. You need your rest; only right you do it someplace comfortable.”

Lockwood glanced to Gadget and Crossfire. “I guess we’re saving a little get-together for later then?”

Gadget pat Lockwood on the shoulder and smiled. “Don’t you worry your little head, Lockwood. There’s gonna be plenty of time to catch up and such after we get you feeling all better, right?”

“An’ makin’ sure them new friends o’ yers get ta where they’re goin’,” Crossfire added with a nod.

“So you’re going to take care of them?” Lockwood asked, looking to Blackburn.

“Making plans to have them shipped out tomorrow,” Blackburn confirmed. “NPAF scheduled to attack following day, want to get them situated before then if only to prevent Briarthorn from charging my account further.”

Lockwood smiled. “Thanks, Blackburn.”

“Clearly their goal is important,” Blackburn noted. “What it is, unimportant to me, but important to them, important to you. Wouldn’t consider anything else.” She turned to Crossfire and nodded. “Take him. Need to move quickly, before staff comes back.”

Lockwood raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said I was cleared to leave?”

“You are,” Blackburn said with a grin. “But nopony knows we’re together still. Keeping secret until ready to do otherwise.”

“Ah. Very well then, carry on.” Lockwood sat up as Crossfire stepped beside the bed so that he could get onto Crossfire’s back. “Y’know, I’m starting to get really used to getting carried by big, buff stallions. Should I be concerned?”

“Only if you prefer being below rather than above,” Gadget snickered.

*****

The royal bedchambers were, in plain terms, fancy, lavishly decorated with purples, golds, and blues. The bed was large enough for ten ponies but clearly never had that many—it was too neat—and took up about a quarter of the room. There was a dresser next to the bed with a picture frame and a jewelry stand; another dresser on the other side had a lantern with a few scented candles—cinnamon—which was the only source of light at the moment.

Blackburn opened the door so that Crossfire could walk in and set Lockwood on the bed; Gadget entered behind them and closed the door. Lockwood then crawled his way into the center and let out a contented sigh.

“Y’all rest well now, y’hear?” Crossfire said with a smile. “After yer friends get all set up with a ride, we’ll all go ‘n’ get some grub.”

“Just the four of us?” Lockwood asked.

“Just the four of us,” Blackburn said with a nod as she approached the bed. “After the NPAF attack the following day, will host larger celebration, invite Virtuoso, Briarthorn, others. Lots of friends here now.”

“Yeah, I heard Cookie Dough set up a restaurant here. Good for her… her dream finally came true,” he said with a wistful sigh.

“Her assistance allows us to produce Dolor products more effectively here. No longer need to smuggle from the north; saves time, saves money, lowers risks.”

“And Doctor Heartthrob was the one who performed my surgery with Twilight, I know that already.”

“Yes. And many others.’ Blackburn smiled and let out a breath. “Will need to begin plans to move your adopted family down here. Already have space in the palace prepared, if they want it.”

Lockwood smirked. “They might just take you up on that.”

Gadget cleared her throat. “I will say that you did a great job keeping Crown Spectrum running while we were gone. I got confirmation about a month ago that all of our shipping processes are fully automated now. We shouldn’t have any trouble keeping our technology up-to-date with Pandemonium’s, and then some.”

“It was hard, but I made it work. Had a lot of help, too.” Lockwood turned to Blackburn. “We still have some friends up north that we should get down here when we can. I know some are important to the refugee system, but… they deserve to live somewhere better, too.”

Blackburn nodded. “Tea Sisters, Keeneye, Bookworm, among others, yes, I agree. However, will not force them; will make efforts to contact them, offer opportunity.”

Blackburn removed her jacket and scarf and climbed onto the bed with Lockwood, nuzzling up alongside him gently; the gesture didn’t bother Gadget or Crossfire, though they did avert their eyes just a little; Gadget even put out some of the candles for them, darkening the room except for the bed for the most part.

“I missed this…” she sighed, rubbing her muzzle into his neck. “I missed you…”

Lockwood shivered as she kissed his neck. “I missed you too, BB. You have no idea…”

“Think I have a pretty good idea, actually. Are you cold?”

“A little.”

Blackburn lifted the blanket off the bed and draped it over his back to keep him warm. “Better?”

“Better.” Lockwood sighed and sunk down into the bed. “This… this is nice…”

Blackburn smiled and lay atop him, as they had so often done before. “Get some rest, Lockwood. You’ve earned it.”

Lockwood hummed comfortably. “Mmm… I love you…”

“I love you too…”

As Lockwood drifted off to sleep, Blackburn took a moment to watch him breathe, to listen to his breaths and feel the rising and falling of his body beneath her. Then, she closed her eyes and she, too, drifted off to sleep, the quickest, deepest, most comfortable sleep she’d had in five years.

Once the couple were asleep, Gadget and Crossfire shared a brief look; the former gestured towards the door, and they left the room quietly.

Not one of them could have ever known that the next day was going to be the worst day of their lives.

CRISIS: Equestria - Chapter 40.3

CRISIS: Equestria

Chapter Forty-and-Three-Tenths: Immortalize

One Month Later

In the past month, Hope’s Point had begun the rebuilding process; Secretary Cherry Tart was working overtime to make sure critical structures were rebuilt first—even some of the underground had been damaged thanks to both the new drill-equipped A.M.P. Troopers and to Starlight Shadow and her sisters.

Chief Engineer Spark Plug was focusing his efforts and getting the city’s power back to optimum capacity; at present they were operating at around eighty percent efficiency, which was enough to keep essential systems running, though the defense shield was taking a back seat for now. Thanks to the NPAF attack’s haphazard operation, they lost three of their largest cruisers and their central leadership; the NPAF would be in disarray for years trying to deal with the massive power vacuum Admiral Hotstreak’s death created.

Despite all this, morale was relatively high. While infrastructure had been damaged, no civilian lives had been lost thanks to the evacuation attempts. Yes, there had been a great loss of life in the city’s militia force due to factors outside of anypony’s knowledge or control—Starlight and her sisters—but it was different in this case than the attack that had killed King Stormchaser five years ago.

Another boost in morale were the rumors spreading throughout the city that Queen Blackburn was engaged to be wed. Not to some Utopian noble like Silver Glow, or to a hotshot homegrown pilot, like Blue Blitz, but to a commoner, for lack of a better term, that she had met up north. Citizens knew their Queen had been up north before taking the throne, though the extent of what she’d been doing was hazy; all they knew—all they needed to know—was that everything she did she’d done to help their city. Whoever this “Lockwood” was must’ve made quite an impression on Her Majesty.

But today was not a day for celebration, but for mourning. Every last citizen of Hope’s Point tuned in to watch the memorial service being held today at the royal palace; they didn’t have to be encouraged to and it didn’t come forced via royal order, but they all watched nonetheless. A raised stage had been set up right at the palace gates, just off to the left side; the entire wall behind the stage was currently covered by a cloth tarp; on the right side of the gate, a large cloth tarp was covering something quite large indeed, which stood at least a dozen feet tall.

There was no fanfare, no announcements, and no words spoken when Queen Blackburn, alone, stepped up onto the stage behind a podium that had been set up. She was stone-faced as ever, and looked out onto the crowd below, made up of reporters, camera operators, and ponies that held important positions within the city hierarchy, primarily the council members; they all watched her with rapt attention and baited breaths, waiting for the Queen’s first major public appearance since her return to the city.

Blackburn cleared her throat and began to speak, forgoing much of her usual terseness to speak from the heart:

“Citizens of Hope’s Point… one month ago today, many lives were tragically lost when the NPAF Admiral Hotstreak, servant of the evil Lord Silvertongue, and the engineered daughters of the latter, brought violence to our great city that we have not seen since the attack that killed my father, King Stormchaser, five years ago.

“I cannot possibly express enough condolences to the families of those whose lives were cut short. I cannot properly express the sadness I feel as I mourn those we lost, nor the anger I feel towards those responsible for these deaths. I can only resolve to keep moving our great city forward, to take actions that will prevent such a terrible loss of life from happening ever again.

“The fallen will be remembered,” she continued.

She gestured to the wall behind her, and the cloth dropped to reveal a large, well-crafted memorial plaque of marble, steel, and gold with the names of each and every pony who lost their lives in defense of the city; one hundred names, all in alphabetical order, each with their militia ranks, a record of their greatest accomplishments in life, and a brief account of when and, if they weren’t born in Hope’s Point, why they became a citizen.

Two names, however, were notably absent from the display, though nopony knew it just yet.

“This Memorial Wall is the second of its kind, but with all of my heart I hope that it is the last. I did not know all of the ponies on this wall personally, but I do know that each and every one of them held the ideals of this great city in their hearts and minds up until the very end. Their memories will live on in our hearts and minds in turn.

“Some of you in this very crowd before me may have known one or more of these ponies personally; some of you watching from elsewhere may know them as well. Surely those who have loved ones who died will hold their own memorials, their own gatherings to remember the fallen. But there are possibly names on this list who had no loved ones who will miss them. I ask that everypony keeps thoughts in their minds for the ponies who had nopony to do so for them.”

Blackburn then took a deep breath. “Two others were killed that day, in the course of their efforts to assist me in bringing those pursued by these agents of Pandemonium, as far from our city as possible. Through their efforts, we were able to draw the worst of the fighting away, and through the actions of those six, the world as we knew it has changed: we can see the clear, clean sky again all across the north for the first time in hundreds of years, and soon we will see life return to the Wasteland as well.”

Blackburn gestured towards the larger tarp, which fell to reveal a finely-crafted marble statue of Gadget and Crossfire, each of them standing tall and proud, protectively watching over the gate into the royal palace, and over the crowd Blackburn now addressed. An obsidian-and-steel plaque at the base of the statue gave their names and accomplishments much as the displays on the wall did, though just as brief:

Gadget and Crossfire

Chief Royal Guards in Service of Queen Blackburn

Gave their lives in defense of their Queen, their friend, their city, and the world.

“Gadget and Crossfire were more to me than just bodyguards, more to me than just my right and left hooves, more to me than just friends, even best friends. They say that the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, and my relationship with them should be all the evidence anypony needs to prove that statement true. They were my sister and brother in all but name.

“Gadget was one of the most brilliant minds I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, inventing devices that have served to better the lives of ponies everywhere with nothing more than her creativity and a drive to help others. Her efforts to keep our city safe might have gone unnoticed by most, but she always had the well-being of all of you in her mind. She had a terrific sense of humor and was a romantic at heart, and she always spoke her mind whether asked or not.

“Crossfire was a kind, old soul, able to look at the bright side of every situation and to see the best in ponies no matter what others thought or suggested. He had an innocence about him that didn’t belong here in the north, but I’m glad he came to me and gave me that perspective. He had a true passion for food and a lust for life that I’ve never seen before, and that I don’t know if I’ll ever see again.

“They were my sister and brother, and had been for more than half of my life. They kept me grounded through the worst moments I’ve ever experienced, guided me through every decision I made, stood beside me through every success and every mistake, and watched over me when I needed them most. I loved them. And they gave their lives for me, for this city, for this world.

“To honor their memory, this statue,” she said as she gestured to the statue, “has been built to watch over the royal palace and all who enter here as they once watched over me. Where Hope’s Point is a beacon of light for others to follow, they will be a beacon of light for all of us to look to for inspiration.”

As Blackburn looked upon the statue, the image of her closest friends, she paused for a long moment, then turned back to the crowd. “I now turn over the podium to anypony who wants to speak about any of those who have fallen. Thank you.”

She descended from the stage and took a seat at the front of the crowd just before the stage that had been sectioned off just for her, with Lockwood by her side. He set one hoof against her back, the other on her hoof to comfort her, but neither said anything; a few camera crews and reporters picked up on this.

Blackburn then sat there, stone-faced, as other ponies came up to speak; General Avalanche went first, as nearly all of the fallen were in his militia force and he blamed himself for their deaths. She didn’t hear his speech, too lost in her own thoughts to focus on anything but keeping her expression emotionless. She didn’t hear the next speech either, or the next, or the one after that; she didn’t even notice who it was that was going up to speak. She didn’t even notice when the service ended, just going through the motions at that point.

She was still unaware and lost in thought as Lockwood guided her through the royal palace, just the two of them alone—she refused to be assigned a guard just yet—to a private sitting room on the palace’s west side. Inside the room were Stouthoof and Shortcake, Flathoof’s parents and Lockwood’s adoptive parents. The former was a tall butter-yellow earth pony stallion with a short strawberry-colored mane; the latter, a tan earth pony mare with a long, curly orange mane.

The two didn’t say a word at first; Blackburn barely even acknowledged their presence. She registered a few words Lockwood was saying here and there, but only bits and pieces. Best she could tell, they were there to offer support to their future daughter-in-law. She didn’t even really notice Lockwood take something from Shortcake, at least until he turned to her to show it.

A photograph. No, the photograph. The one of her, and Gadget, and Crossfire, and Lockwood, all together at Crown Jewel’s dance recital all those years ago. Up until a month ago, Blackburn had looked at that picture every single morning so that she could keep Lockwood fresh in her mind, so that the first thing she thought of every day was of their efforts up north so many years ago, of those still fighting to escape the darkness of New Pandemonium.

But seeing that picture, of a happy memory she had with her two best friends, was too much. All of that emotion that she’d been suppressing for the past month came flooding out all at once. She cried, honestly, for the first time since the death of her father and stepmother, harder even than she had cried when her grandfather and mother had died. She just broke down and let the tears finally flow.

Lockwood was there for her, wrapping her up in a tight hug as she cradled the memory in her hooves, tears running down his face as he comforted her. Stouthoof and Shortcake were there for her as well, joining in the hug with earnest love and concern. They were all there to help Blackburn weather the storm of emotion; so when that burst of sorrow had passed, when she was ready, they would also be there to help her celebrate the lives of her closest friends, to remember the happiness and joy Gadget and Crossfire had brought into her life.

CRISIS: Equestria - Chapter 40.6

CRISIS: Equestria

Chapter Forty-and-Six-Tenths: Inamorato

Two Months Later

Hope’s Point’s surface repairs had been completed at last, and work was underway to begin expanding the city out along the coast; the changes to the world’s environment in only a few months had brought with it an influx of ponies from New Pandemonium over the land route, as the land itself was slowly starting to heal. The threat of the Gargantuans throughout the Wasteland had very suddenly dropped to such a rarity that ponies were wondering if they’d completely disappeared.

The defense shield was still taking a backseat in the repair process; it was fixed enough to be deployed in an emergency, but the process of totally repairing it was particularly rough. The saboteurs had torn apart and removed several key components that allowed the shield to go up and stay up with minimal power drain, and getting replacements wasn’t going to be easy with Pandemonium in its new, particularly paranoid state of being. Their Beacon collapsing and taking out Pandora Tower with it, only to reveal the real sky up above, had shaken things up quite a lot.

The city itself was in a particularly celebratory mood today, and most ponies had tuned in to the local news station to watch the coverage of the royal wedding. On every television screen in the city, just about, the citizens of Hope’s Point could see a news anchor—a peach earth pony mare with a purple mane wearing a snappy dress jacket—seated behind a desk addressing viewers with a big, friendly smile.

“The royal palace is booming with activity today as Her Royal Highness, Queen Blackburn, is due to be wed to her fiance, soon-to-be-King Lockwood,” the anchor said. “While Her Majesty has expressed a desire for a private ceremony, we have been allowed to provide limited coverage of the event, including a brief visit from the Queen and her new husband to show off their wedding attire and take photos before retiring to the reception.

“We go now to our stallion in the field, Brick Road. Brick?”

The image on the screen shifted to that of a dark red earth pony stallion situated at the gates of the royal palace, which were closed to the public, though that didn’t stop a cheering crowd from gathering to catch some glimpse of anything that was going on inside. The statue of Gadget and Crossfire had been decorated with white flowers, and nopony climbed on it to get a better view.

“Thank you, Peach Fuzz,” said Brick Road, the field reporter. He gestured to the crowd outside the gate. “As you can see, a large crowd has formed here at the royal palace as everypony tries to bear witness to anything or anypony they can that might be involved with the royal wedding before the ceremony begins.”

“And has anypony caught sight of anything yet, Brick?” asked Peach Fuzz, genuinely curious.

“A few witnesses say they’ve seen some guests arriving via the hidden side entrances to the palace, including members of the council, but we have no confirmation as of yet on these claims. But as you can see, Peach, the crowd is quite lively as we look forward to word that the wedding ceremony has concluded so we can get that look at Her Majesty’s wedding dress and the first public appearance of our new King.”

“Speaking of our new King, what seems to be the word on the street there about what’s happening inside? Are the ponies there as excited as we are for our Queen?”

“Well, Peach, I’ve talked to a few of these ponies and the general consensus is one of excitement and approval of Her Majesty and her choice in a husband. After news came to light of his role in helping Her Majesty with improving our city during her time spent infiltrating New Pandemonium before she took the throne, Soon-to-be-King Lockwood seems to have been met with unanimous praise and love.”

“That’s wonderful news, Brick. Keep us updated on any developments there at the royal palace.”

“Will do, Peach. Back to you in the studio.”

The image shifted back to Peach Fuzz behind a desk. “Stay tuned here folks for further news on the royal wedding as it happens. In the meantime—”

*****

The royal wedding chapel was exquisitely decorated with whites, blues, and purples. Hundreds of flowers of varying kinds lined the aisle and scented candles sat at the edges of the room, all combining to give the chapel the smell of a pleasant spring afternoon. All of the pews were packed tight with guests—friends and family only, which for somepony like Lockwood was actually quite a lot—and not a single camera crew.

The groom, Lockwood stood proud and confident as he waited for the ceremony to begin. Lockwood’s tuxedo a high collar decorated in the reds and golds of Hope’s Point, and a particularly fancy eyepatch. He didn’t wear a hat, though; he didn’t wear them in public anymore since there was no need to protect from acid rain. These days he only wore a hat when Blackburn asked while they were engaged in more… personal activities.

At Lockwood’s side were his three groomsmen: his Best Stallion and adopted brother, Thickhoof—they both knew it should’ve been Flathoof, but circumstances had certainly changed—seated in a wheelchair; Stouthoof, his adoptive father, was an obvious choice as well; Virtuoso, naturally, was there as well, seeing as he was Lockwood’s close personal friend who was pretty much responsible for bringing the bride and groom together. They were all dressed in crisp black tuxedos just like Lockwood, though without the high collars.

While Blackburn was not yet present yet, her bridesmaids were. Tick Tock was there, of course, as the lead bridesmaid; she and Lockwood had become good friends in their journey together, and naturally that meant Blackburn wanted to be good friends with her too. Ivory Charm of course was another obvious choice, for much the same reasons that Virtuoso was on Lockwood’s side. Lyrica was the third, and clearly was rather surprised and nervous to be up there, but Blackburn had few friends and clearly considered Lyrica close enough to be here. The latter two were dressed in pretty gold dresses, though Ivory’s was just a little bigger to accommodate her slightly larger belly; Tick Tock was dressed in a formal version of her uniform.

The other guests present included all the ponies that could make it here that had helped shape the lives of the royal couple over the years: an aging Solarian; Paramour—her husband and daughter were strangely absent; the entire council—Spark Plug, Avalanche, Moonglass, Cherry Tart, Lightning Flash, Stellar Storm, Concord—and their families; Cookie Dough and her husband; Doctor Heartthrob; Evening Glitz and her husband; Sweet Cream—already showing that her pregnancy was progressing along just like Ivory’s; the Tea Sisters; and Keeneye.

Shroud, who sat near the back to monitor things during the ceremony, was there as well. Blackburn had confirmed with her about what had happened and didn’t blame her for very nearly killing her; that had been Silvertongue’s doing, and with Silvertongue dead, his mental conditioning on her was effectively broken for good. The unicorn had indeed proven an astounding asset to have; Blackburn couldn’t resist stealing her from Concord, but promised the latter to find a good replacement.

There were a few guards present as well, though they were inconspicuous, hardly noticeable at all unless you knew they were beforehand.

Then, at last, the traditional Bridal Chorus played, and the crowd’s attention turned towards the chapel entrance. Tick Tock drew out her Timekeeper, flipped a small dial, and then held it up in front of her face towards the entrance; it glowed a dull green as she started recording the ceremony, expressly for her friends on Equestria-IV, who hadn’t been able to attend.

Entering the room first was the ring bearer, Shorthoof, who carried a little purple pillow with two small gold, diamond-studded earrings. He was dressed in a tight-fitting tuxedo just like his brother and father, though he was clearly just a little uncomfortable in it. Following Shorthoof were the flower fillies, Crown Jewel and Crystal Heart, each dressed in an adorable, flower-patterned gold-and-pink dress. They sprinkled flowers of every color imaginable along the path up to the altar.

Following them was the bride herself, Queen Blackburn, accompanied by Shining Steel, the only pony she had left that she could consider a father figure. Lockwood smiled brightly as the two approached the altar; Blackburn’s mouth curled in a little grin as she approached him in turn. Her wedding dress was elaborate, white-and-gold with a crown-like veil topped with various flowers; it had been designed by Haute Couture himself, though he had declined to be at the wedding—he didn’t do crowds, he said.

Once Blackburn reached the altar and Shining Steel took his seat, the music stopped and the officiator addressed the crowd. “Friends, family, and compatriots, we are gathered here today to bear witness to the union between these two, Queen Blackburn and Lockwood, in matrimony. If anypony can show just cause why these two should not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”

Neither Blackburn or Lockwood expected a single peep out the crowd in attendance.

So naturally, they were very surprised when two figures stepped in through the chapel entrance and made a commotion.

“I object!” yelled one of the two.

Blackburn immediately turned. She knew that voice anywhere. “No…”

“So do I!” yelled the other.

Lockwood turned as well, recognizing the second voice just as instantly. “What the—”

To the surprise of everypony in the crowd—except for Tick Tock, who had a wide, mischievous smile on her face; Shroud, who merely tilted her head knowingly then turned her attention back to her datapad; and Stellar Storm, who winked at Tick Tock—turned and gaped at the new arrivals:

Briarthorn and Flathoof, respectively.

The two stallions were dressed in snappy tuxedos that matched those of the other groomsmen, and approached the altar with smug smiles. The former looked healthier than Blackburn remembered him being; the redness in his eyes was practically gone and he walked with a certain sobriety she hadn’t seen since they were very young. The latter filled out his tuxedo tightly, like he’d been poured into it; apparently the tux had been made on his old measurements and he’d gained some muscle since then and hadn’t told anpony.

Murmurs spread through the crowd at the surprise; this had to be an illusion, or something along those lines. Right?

The officiator cleared his throat to quiet the crowd. “Ahem? And what is your objection, sirs?”

Flathoof made to speak, but Briarthorn beat him to the punch, natch. “Pshaw, everypony knows these two lovebirds can’t just go through a wedding, tie the knot, or, for that matter, get hitched all willy-nilly-like. Not without us here, they can’t, no sir! But now, we’re here, so now, the show can go on!” He turned to Flathoof for approval. “Right?”

Flathoof rolled his eyes. “Right.” He looked briefly to Lockwood. “We’ll talk after you’re King Lockwood, eh?”

Lockwood nodded, a dumb smile on his face. “Yeah… yeah, sure.”

Blackburn shot a look at Tick Tock, whose shit-eating grin was easily noticeable. “You… you did this. Explain. Now.”

Tick Tock tilted her head out from behind her Timekeeper, giving Blackburn a coy wink. “Hey, listen, I know wedding presents are supposed to be saved for after the ceremony, but there was no bloody way I was gonna make these two wait that long.”

“But what are they doing here?”

“Oh, I called in a little favor with Time Turner. Since these two are originally from this world anyway, I was able to get them a temporary ‘vacation’, we’ll call it, so they could attend your wedding. Couldn’t do the same with Twilight and company, obviously, hence why I’m recording this. Smile, by the way.”

The Timekeeper gave a little flash of green light and made a loud CLICK.

Blackburn snorted, then turned to Briarthorn and Flathoof. “Well? Don’t just stand there, take some seats!”

The two saluted and, in unison, said, “Right away, Your Majesty!” They then moved down to find the seats that had been set aside for them near the front—Blackburn hadn’t noticed the empty seats until just now.

The officiator cleared his throat again. “May we get back to business, fillies and gentlecolts?”

Blackburn turned to him and nodded. “Get on with it, then.”

“Right. So… from the top. Ahem! Friends, family, and compatriots, we are gathered here today to bear witness to the union between these two, Queen Blackburn and Lockwood, in matrimony. If anypony can show just cause why these two should not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”

Nopony said anything this time.

The officiator then turned to the couple.
“Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand’ring bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me prov’d,

I never writ, nor no pony ever lov’d.”

He then turned to Blackburn. “I understand the two of you wrote your own vows?”

“We did,” Blackburn said with a nod.

“Then you may read them now.”

Blackburn cleared her throat looking deep into Lockwood’s good eye, and recited from memory: “It is clear to me now that everything in my life has led me to you. I think back on all my choices and consider even the bad ones blessed, because if I had done even one thing differently, I might never have met you and become entwined in your life. As we join our lives together let us vow to live in truth, to always communicate fully, to hold each other against the wind, to feel our hearts joined as one. To you I give myself and everything I will ever be.”

Lockwood smiled, then took a breath of his own as he, too, gazed into Blackburn’s eyes as he recited from memory: “Sometimes I watch just the smallest things you do and think I am the luckiest stallion alive. From you I've learned how to dream and what it is to have a loving partner who supports your dreams. I vow to help you in your dreams and desires; to watch over your city, to guide your flock and to create a life, a family, and a loving home as your husband. As your husband, I am yours, and I tenderly deliver you my heart and soul.”

He finished it off by getting down and performing their special gesture. Blackburn smiled back at him, taking his offered wing with her own.

The officiator nodded, then turned towards Shorthoof. “May we now have the rings?”

Shorthoof hurried forward between the couple, who each took one earring with a hoof.

The officiator turned to Lockwood first. “Lockwood, as you place the ring on Blackburn’s ear, please repeat after me: I give you this ring to wear—”

Lockwood reached up and began affixing the earring to Blackburn’s ear. “I give you this ring to wear—”

“—as a symbol of my abiding love—”

“—my eternal faith, and my undying devotion—”

“—it is an outward reminder of our inner unity.”

The officiator then turned to Blackburn, and asked her to do the same for Lockwood: “Your Majesty Queen Blackburn, as you place the ring on Lockwood’s ear, please repeat after me—”

She followed along exactly as Lockwood had done, and now the two each had a gold-and-diamond earring in their ears.

The officiator then smiled. “Then, by the authority vested in me by the city of Hope’s Point, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Your Majesty King Lockwood, you may kiss the bride.”

Lockwood smirked, and stepped forward to wrap Blackburn in a hug as he kissed her lovingly.

*****

Once the wedding ceremony had completed and the King and Queen made their first, albeit brief, public appearance as a married couple, the reception began immediately in the royal palace’s grand dining hall, which was decorated for the occasion much as the chapel had been: in whites, blues, and purples. Several dozen round tables had been set up for the guests and their friends and families; the seating arrangements had naturally been adjusted—without Blackburn or Lockwood’s knowledge, of course—to allow the newest surprise guests a seat at the bride and groom’s table.

Food and drink was of course provided, and the royal coffers had been generously used to provide options for everypony present in multiple varieties. For some ponies here, this would be their first chance to try Baroque, Newhaven, or Utopian cuisine; Blackburn had even arranged for some zebra cuisine to be present, having enjoyed it during the brief stay she and Lockwood had tried while in Zeb’ra’den. There was food enough for everypony, and the leftovers were helpfully being donated to the city’s charity efforts.

Blackburn very carefully had things arranged so that she wouldn’t be served any alcohol, but that the guests would think she was. Simply placing non-alcoholic drinks into alcoholic bottles that were marked specifically for her consumption was easy enough to do.

Blackburn and Lockwood’s table consisted of the two of them seated together; on Blackburn’s left were, in order, Briarthorn, then Tick Tock; on Lockwood’s right were, in order, Flathoof, then Pewter. Their table had only been originally intended to be for four: the royal couple with Tick Tock and Pewter, who had no other guests to share a table with; it had been a kind gesture of the royal couple’s part, making sure their friends weren’t left out.

Naturally, however, most of the time the royal couple used was conversing with their two friends back for today and today only, rather than enjoying the meals provided or conversing with Tick Tock and Pewter; there’d be time for that another day.

“Still can’t believe this,” Blackburn mumbled, shaking her head. “Hate surprises, Tick Tock, you know that.”

Lockwood smirked and leaned back in his seat. “Yeah, same. Y’know, of all the things that were going to happen today, this was one thing I did not expect. It wasn’t even on my list of a hundred-and-one things that could happen, and that’s bad or good stuff.”

Tick Tock scuffed her hoof against her vest, obviously pleased with herself. “Yeah, I figured you’d like my wedding present, Your Majesty. It took some planning and a lot of sneakiness, what with having to secretly get in contact with your security teams and personal secretary so that neither of you would know, and so nopony, y’know, bloody well shot these two goofballs when they came barging in.”

Briarthon scoffed. “Please, Tickity, the guards around here surely recognized my gorgeous face from a mile away.”

Tick Tock blinked. “So, like I said, I had to make sure you didn’t get shot.”

“Oof, ouch, that stings,” Briarthorn chortled, hoof over his heart. “Admit it, my sublimey limey, you miss having me around.”

Tick Tock shared a brief look with Pewter. “Sorry, Briarthorn, I’ve already got a stallion in my life. You’re not even my second choice. Or my third. Or fourth.”

He laughed his unoffended, easy laugh. “Well then, what do you figure my place in line actually is?””

Tick Tock shook her head in gentle exasperation. “Like a distant… distant five-hundredth.”

To no one’s surprise, Briarthorn waggled his eyebrows. “So you’re saying there’s a chance?”

Tick Tock rolled her eyes tolerantly, and let the roll drift over to Pewter.

Briarthorn followed her gaze to look at Pewter now, a curious smile on his face. “Aha, choice number one. So, you’re Obsidian’s son, eh? You certainly have the look… though you’re not as big as I remember the old mountain stallion being described. You’re like… mountain-lite. Diet mountain. Would that be a hill? Are hills diet mountains?”

Pewter shrugged. “I think if you actually knew my father, you’d know that he wasn’t really as big as everypony says he was. Bigger than your everyday average stallion, sure, but not ‘big as a house’ big. Big drinker though, I’ll say that much. Maybe that’s where the rumors started? Ponies figured somepony that could outdrink Kings Flashfire and Stormchaser must be a giant or something?”

“Hmm.. maybe.” Briarthorn leaned in, his smile widening. “So… you and Tick Tock, huh? How’s that working out for you two?”

Pewter made to speak, but Tick Tock spoke first: “It’s working out great, but you’re not here to talk about my love life, featherbrain.” She gestured towards Blackburn and Lockwood. “You’re here for them, eh?”

Briarthorn chuckled and shrugged. “Fair enough!”

Blackburn turned to Flathoof first. “Enjoying time with Applejack, I take it?”

“Definitely,” Flathoof said with a small grin. “Y’know, I finally got a chance to try apples over there? They’re… well, they’re probably the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Applejack knows every kind of different apple dish, too. Let’s see if I can remember.”

He looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes. “There’s apple pie, apple tarts, apple juice, apple fritters, caramel apples, candied apples, apple cider—”

Briarthorn gestured grandly when Flathoof mentioned the cider. “Oooh! Yes yes yes, the apple cider. Queenie, I know you’ve never tried it before, and neither had I, but like… hear me out, okay? I don’t know if it’s just the new lifestyle talking or what, but I’ve found myself a new drink.”

Blackburn eyed him suspiciously. “Really? Is it that good?”

“Like heaven in a mug, my sweet, sweet Blackburn, like heaven in a mug. Now, I’ve tried lots of brands, too, but AJ’s family makes the best. Nothing helps me unwind after a long day than a nice mug of Apple Clan apple cider, no sir. Listen to me, I’m advertising for them to somepony that’ll never get a chance to try it. That’s how good it is.”

“Huh… well, just don’t overdo it. No need to drink to excess anymore.”

“Oh no, of course not. I’m slowly weening myself off the harder stuff and even cutting down on the weaker stuff, too, but a mug at night to soothe the nerves is a perfectly acceptable, appropriate, and dare I say commendable amount of progress.”

“And you drink to relax after work? What do you do now?”

“Just a couple of part-time gigs,” Briarthorn said with a smile. “I’m officially on Rainbow’s little weather team, but only when she needs reserves for big-time storms and stuff. Otherwise, I signed up with the Wonderbolts as an instructor, just waiting on a reply. I always did have a knack for teaching, right?”

“Rainbow always made them sound like a pretty exclusive club,” Lockwood noted. “I take it she can’t get you any pull?”

“Well she’s not exactly a member of the team or anything, just a cadet at this point. Still don’t get that, by the by,” Briarthorn said, shaking his head. “I’ve seen that mare fly and boy howdy, let me tell ya, she’s a shoe-in if I’ve ever saw one. I mean, she’s no Blue Blitz, but I think your mom would’ve liked her.”

“Hmmm, well, don’t expect trouble for you,” Blackburn said with a nod. She turned back to Flathoof. “So, you work with Applejack on her farm, I take it? Your figure has improved from last we saw you; farmwork does wonders for your physique.”

“I’ll say,” Lockwood whistled, poking Flathoof’s muscled barrel. “You’ve always been a big guy, but sheesh, Flathoof, you look like you’ve put on about twenty pounds of muscle. I’m impressed.”

Flathoof sheepishly rubbed his chin. “Yeah, well, I’m still nothing compared to AJ’s big brother, Macintosh. That guy’s got me beat like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Yeah, ol’ Big Mac is built like a house,” Briarthorn chimed in. “Probably had to eat a dang house to get that big. And a barn, too, roof and all.”

“Yeah, so… life’s going pretty well where we are,” Flathoof said, scratching his chin. “But how about you two? Besides the wedding, of course, how are things going? I heard the city got trashed during that attack, but it looks like you’ve got everything all rebuilt.”

“We have,” Blackburn said with a polite nod, not smiling. “Would rather not talk further on subject. This is a happy occasion.”

“Right, right, of course.” Flathoof looked between the two, then smiled. “So hey… we never really had a chance to talk about how you two got together.”

“It’s a… rather long story,” Lockwood said with a smirk. “But without Twilight here I don’t think we can really go over the whole thing in the time you have left—”

“Plus these two lovebirds need to get going on their honeymoon,” Briarthorn added. “Y’know, get working on that heir we were talking about. The heir your budding monarchy needs, right, Queenie? Heir today, gone tomorrow? Gotta get a handle on that love, you feel me?” His voice was light, but he locked eyes with Blackburn.

Lockwood gripped Blackburn’s hoof under the table. They hadn’t told anyone that they were already progressing well along that front; Blackburn began to roll her eyes at her odd friend, but she stopped when she saw him staring deep into her eyes with genuine happiness. It was for her and Lockwood.

A sudden realization swept through her mind as the pieces clicked into place. A trainer for the Wonderbolts. The one-pony smuggler team. Aerodynamics were his life, even now. He’d had an eye for flight, and an eye for pony figures, pegasus or not. She thought she’d fit her wedding dress just right to hide the burgeoning proof that she was already expecting: nopony else had noticed, she was sure of that. Just as she was sure now that Briarthorn definitely knew. And, rather than confront her on her secret, he’d done what he did best and hid his insight under that lothario mask she’d given him all those years ago.

Blackburn shook her head, breaking the moment before it went on too long. “Change is hard for you, isn’t it, Briar?” Her shoulders shrugged, her grin was wry, but she let her eyes show Briarthorn her elation.

He chuckled. “Hard like the cider I need to stop drinking. Not impossible. But it’s damn good cider.”

Tick Tock cleared her throat.

Briarthorn sighed theatrically. “Right, memories. You got a fix, Tickety?”

Her voice edged on a slow pride. “Well, I might not be Twilight Sparkle, but I learned a thing or two over the six years I was trapped in a time loop trying to save all your bloody arses. It’s not as precise, but I think I can do it to a rather simple degree.”

“How simple are we talking here?” Lockwood asked.

“Well, when Twilight did it, it was a total memory transfer, everything that happened to her and her friends from the moment she started on the path of coming to our world from theirs. And I do mean everything: private thoughts, emotions, dreams, all of it. Gryphon magic is quite powerful, and Twilight isn’t exactly a slouch. Now, I don’t quite have that kind of precision power, but I can let you share a few key moments, if you’d like.”

“So… they’d see what, exactly?”

“Well, they’d have a sort of… let’s say ‘objective’ viewpoint. They’d be seeing it like an outsider, not like they’re really there. And they’d only see the moments that you deem necessary to show, so no violations of privacy.”

Blackburn pondered this, then nodded. “Acceptable. Proceed.”

“Unicorn magic really is convenient, isn’t it?” Lockwood chuckled. “Saves us a lot of talking.”

Tick Tock lit her horn briefly, and enshrouded Blackburn, Lockwood, Briarthorn, and Flathoof in a dim green glow; their eyes glowed a very dull white for all of a few seconds. Then, the spell was done, and they returned to normal.

Flathoof gave Lockwood a very stern look, then reached over and wrapped Lockwood in a stiff headlock. “You jerk!”

“Wha-hey!” Lockwood exclaimed. “Flathoof, what—”

“You had me running around the damn city for months looking for the ponies that mugged you, you colossal ass. Was that really the best excuse you could come up with? Huh? Muggers?”

“In my defense, it wasn’t my idea,” Lockwood said, holding up his hooves defensively as he struggled in Flathoof’s grip. “That was all Virtuoso’s idea. He didn’t know you were a cop-in-training and would actually try to do something about it, y’know? I couldn’t exactly tell him that about you.”

Briarthorn laughed. “So it was our own Secretary of Commerce and Trade that was the mob boss you were bamboozling all that time, Queenie? Color me surprised, I thought we just lucked out to get somepony that knew a thing or two about money matters and happened to be a friend of yours. But a former mob boss? Wow. Just wow.”

“For what it’s worth, though… I’m glad to see that all the lies really were for a good reason, little bro,” Flathoof sighed, releasing the headlock and putting a hoof to Lockwood’s shoulder. “I mean, after seeing you two together I knew there was a real connection there, but… well, I’m glad to see just how deep that connection goes.”

“I didn’t know you’d been so close with… Gadget and Crossfire,” Briarthorn said, his expression souring a little. “I’ll admit, we were friends, but really that’s just because me and Queenie were dating. You were friends with them before you and her got together…” He turned to Blackburn and gave her a small, sad smile. “Still… I’m glad to see that at least part of your motivation for what you did to me—and I do forgive you, Queenie—was because you found Lockwood.”

Blackburn nodded stiffly. “Never meant to hurt you, Briar. Couldn’t justify my feelings for Lockwood while with you… wish I’d made a different choice, sometimes… but—”

“Please, Blackburn, it’s all in the past now. I’ve got my life back on track now, someplace where I can relax and enjoy it for longer than I would have ever had here, even without the Diffusion deal.”

Blackburn smiled very slightly. “I’m happy that it worked out that way…”

This time, Lockwood saw the look Blackburn and Briarthorn were sharing, and he bowed his head slightly with his always enviable sincerity. For a moment, Blackburn could have sworn she saw the pinprick of tears in the goldenrod pegasus’ eyes even as he was smiling with real warmth.

Then he inhaled deeply. “So!” he said with an all-too-familiar flourish. “Sooo! I noticed that you skipped the juicy details,” Briarthorn huffed, hooves behind his head, the conspiratorial grin he always shared while making a public ass of himself sitting wide and fake on his face. “C’mon, Queenie, I think if anypony deserves to know—”

Blackburn made a show of kicking him under the table, loudly stretching and thumping the underside of the table as she made the barest contact with his leg. A fake effort to distance himself deserved an equally fake show of punishment.

He grabbed his own leg dramatically. “Ow! Sheesh, Queenie, are you trying to break my leg or something here? Geez laweez—”

“If I were any closer, I’d kick you too,” Flathoof snorted. “I love my brother, but I don’t need to have a mental image of him and my sister-in-law in bed together, thanks.”

“C’mon now, that’s not what I meant, pshaw,” Briarthorn dismissed, waving his hoof. “I meant more like, even the things involving me were fairly tame and Blackburn could tell you—”

Now he needed real incentive to shut up. Blackburn kicked him again. This time for real, and hard. “Ahem!”

He yelped and grabbed at his leg no less dramatically, but actively winced this time. “Yeowch! Sorry! Sorry. Still getting my mind-gutters clean. It’s not all out of my system. Yet. Ow. Sorry.”

“He knows Twilight’s not into that kind of stuff so he’s trying to bring himself ‘down’, so to speak,” Flathoof noted with a grin. “I’m still saying he’s barking up the wrong tree. Twilight’s one-and-only love is a good book as far as I’ve seen.”

“Speaking of, how are Twilight and the others?” Lockwood asked.

“Not a lot new to discuss, actually. Rainbow’s still training to be a Wonderbolt, Fluttershy’s still got her veterinarian service…” Flathoof grinned and leaned over to Lockwood. “She’s over you, by the way. I think she’s got eyes for somepony else now, but nopony knows who, except maybe Rarity.”

“Huh, well… that makes me feel better,” Lockwood said with a nod.

“Rarity’s working on a bunch of new designs inspired by her trip here… visits Zecora a lot these days. Pinkie’s still… Pinkie, heh.”

“And Twilight’s on some sort of super secret assignment from Princess Celestia,” Briarthorn said with a proud smile. “Something about her idol Starswirl or something. She’s gonna start working on it over the weekend. By the way, did she ever tell you guys she has a dragon for a personal assistant?”

“She mentioned it a few times, yeah,” Lockwood said, quirking an eyebrow. “How’s that work anyway? Her place must be huge to hold a dragon in it.”

“No no no, Spike’s like a baby dragon. Or more like a... kid? Foal? ‘Cause he’s not like in diapers or anything. He’s a pretty cool little guy, actually.”

The reception continued as was to be expected: wedding gifts were given; toasts were made; the cake was cut; and, of course, Blackburn tossed her bouquet; Tick Tock caught it, giving Pewter a fairly obvious wink in the process, though everypony was rather unconcerned though amused that she’d clearly cheated with her magic to do so—most of the other mares present were already married, after all, or weren’t even dating anypony. After that, everypony said their goodbyes.

Briarthorn was easy enough, giving both Blackburn and Lockwood big, friendly hugs and reminding them of the promise they’d made to him before he left to Twilight’s world all those months ago. Again, the royal couple shared discreet, knowing glances at one another, glad that they’d kept their night in Zeb’ra’den a secret from him; he’d never let them hear the end of it if they did.

Flathoof, as far as the royal couple was concerned, was also a simple affair, but he then had to take a good portion of time to say proper goodbyes to his family, as he hadn’t been able to before. It served to give him, and them, proper closure.

He was glad to hear that, thanks to Hope’s Point’s advances with prosthetics, Thickhoof was scheduled to have surgery to repair his legs; he’d be able to walk again by the end of the year.

He was thrilled to hear that Pattycake was training under somepony to become a proper baker—strongly implied to be Cookie Dough herself—and would eventually try to open her own business. Cookie Dough had made the wedding cake, after all, and had done so with her new apprentice’s help.

Shortcake and Shorthoof were particularly clingy on him as he was getting ready to leave. His mother fussed with him about his new fillyfriend and nagged him about not being able to meet her grandchildren; Flathoof tactfully declined to answer whether he and Applejack were even considering such a thing, and easily deflected the question towards Lockwood, who was actually married now; Lockwood, of course, assured them it wouldn’t be long.

Shorthoof, of course, was not ready to say goodbye to his oldest brother, but did so with as much tact and togetherness as he could muster.

Stouthoof, as expected, gave his son a grunt and a hoofshake, wished him luck, and said little else, and Flathoof did the same right back. Anypony who knew them knew that it was a prime display of the love they had together; they didn’t need more than that.

Tick Tock, before Flathoof left, made sure to entrust to him a little device that, she explained, would let Twilight and her friends view the recording she’d taken. Her instructions were a little complicated, but she assured him that Time Turner could help make sure it was done properly; since Flathoof and Time Turner were on good terms—the latter took it upon himself to maintain Flathoof’s prosthetic limb—it wouldn’t be difficult to manage.

Photographers—both official ones for the event and Tick Tock, for her personal collection—took a few opportune moments to capture the royal couple and their guests, of course; a wedding without wedding photos wasn't a real wedding, after all.

And, once the last of the guests had left, Blackburn and Lockwood were allowed to be alone, and were allowed to head up to the royal bedchambers to, in Briarthorn’s words, “consummate their marriage”. On that, they hadn’t denied anything.

CRISIS: Equestria - Chapter 40.9

CRISIS: Equestria

Chapter Forty-and-Nine-Tenths: Idol

Blackburn and Lockwood arrived at the royal bedchambers late that night, long after the reception was over, and for the first time today since they woke up, they were able to be alone with one another. They’d already said everything to one another that needed to be said, spoken about everything that needed to be spoken about, done everything that needed to be done.

Well, except for one thing, which was not only expected of them, but which they’d been looking forward to all day: their first official night together as Queen and King of Hope’s Point.

So, when they arrived in their room, they barely even took the time to close and lock the door before they were all over each other. The kisses were deep and loving; their hooves ran over one another with tender caresses. They moved over to the bed, mouths together, eyes closed, and started taking off one another’s clothes. The room was dark, barely kept lit by a single scented candle that had been prepared ahead of time by one of their attendants, but that was it.

Their attentions were drawn when somepony cleared their throat from the far side of the room, where the light didn’t reach. They didn’t break away from each other, just stared off towards the noise, eyes wide in surprise. The candle suddenly brightened enough to light more of the room, so that Blackburn and Lockwood could see who the intruder was:

Harmonia.

The alicorn was resplendent, her pristine white coat glistening in the candlelight, her long, misty blue mane flowing out behind her with a healthy, starlike glow. She was dressed in a thin white robe that delicately clung to her frame; despite everything, she carried herself with an air of innocence, purity, and virtue, despite the robe being somewhat provocative. Her mouth was curled in a friendly, apologetic grin.

Blackburn and Lockwood hastily reassembled themselves as best they could in the presence of a physical goddess, but before either could speak:

“Forgiveth me, my little ponies, for mine intrusion,” Harmonia said, her airy, pleasant tone sending cool ripples through the air. “I know that this is a special evening for thee, but I did not wish to interrupt thy ceremony earlier.”

Blackburn cleared her throat. “No need to apologize to us, Lady Harmonia. Um… to what do we owe the pleasure?”

Harmonia smiled, warming the room instantly. “I understand ‘tis tradition that wedding guests provideth gifts to the married couple upon them being united in matrimony? While I am aware that I hath not properly attended thy wedding ceremony, I wouldst still like to provide thee with a gift.”

“A gift? For us?” Lockwood asked, eyebrow raised. “I… well, thank you, Lady Harmonia, but if you don’t mind my asking… why us? Not that we don’t appreciate it, but surely you don’t do this for everypony that gets married?”

Harmonia shook her head. “Not for everypony, no, but before I was forced against my will into this physical form, I once granted my blessing upon every union performed in the south, for ‘twas my duty and honor to do so. But for thee, King Lockwood, and thee, Queen Blackburn… this visit is of a more personal nature.”

“Oh?”

“Thine efforts in months past hath saved the lives of countless ponies, not just in the north and south, but from worlds beyond our own. It is my belief that a boon must be given to thee as recompense for thine actions, and I saw no better time to deliver this boon upon thee.”

“Wasn’t really our efforts,” Blackburn noted, shaking her head. “Tick Tock for instance, or Twilight Sparkle and friends. Even Starlight Shadow and her sisters, loathe as I am to admit it. All had direct roles; deserve whatever reward you have to give.”

Harmona smiled kindly. “For Tick Tock, I hath already granted her a great boon. The regrowth of life in the north will take many years, but mine efforts hath been focused first upon where she hath made her new home. She will know peace and harmony for the rest of her life, and spend it with one that she loves.

“As for Twilight and Starlight, and those that call them friend or sister, I cannot provide my boon to them, for neither group dwells in our world any longer. Even my power, great though it may be, cannot spread to worlds beyond mine own. Thou, however, hath sacrificed much to help them accomplish their goal, and for that, I wish to grant thee a gift.”

Lockwood smiled and nodded. “Well, we’re very glad to have a gift from you, Lady Harmonia. Thank you.”

“Thou art quite welcome, King Lockwood, Queen Blackburn,” Harmonia said with a gentle nod. She lit her horn with a dim golden glow. “Now please, both of thee, clearest thy minds of questions, and keepest thy hearts open. My gift to thee is one that requires great effort as I call forth magic from the Dreaming; ‘tis more difficult in this form.”

Blackburn and Lockwood glanced around them as the room was filled with the dim glow from her horn, until eventually they were no longer really there, in that room; they now stood some sort of formless void made of dark gold, occupied only by the two of them and Harmonia herself, who seemed ethereal as though she were only partially there.

Before either Blackburn or Lockwood could speak, a small, translucent orb of orangish-pink energy manifested itself in front of them. It slowly expanded and reshaped until it was in the form of a short unicorn, mostly featureless save for the horn on its head; no mane, no tail.

The pony-shaped energy then opened its “eyes”—blueish orbs of light—and its “mouth” gave a little smile. Its mouth didn’t move when it spoke, but its words flittered out into the air all the same, coming from seemingly everywhere around them. “Golly, looks like we’re interrupting something, huh?”

Blackburn and Lockwood froze in shock, the former’s mouth hanging open, absolutely gobsmacked. “G-Gadget?”

“Duh. Loving the wedding dress, by the way. A little frillier than I would’ve ever expected from you, but y’know what, it still looks good on you. You look absolutely gorgeous.”

“How… how are we—”

“Oh. That. Well, y’know… this whole ‘Dreaming’ thing is kinda like a, uh… well, best I can describe it is like an afterlife? I know we never really gave much thought to what comes after we pass on and stuff, but here we are.”

Blackburn sniffed, finding herself unable to hold back tears; hearing her friend’s voice again was making her feel both incredibly happy and incredibly sad at the same time. “Gadget… I’m so sorry… I’m so, so sorry—”

“You don’t need to be sorry for anything, Blackburn. It’s not your fault things happened the way they did. I made my choice, and I don’t regret anything about it. I’d make that choice again, every single time. Now get that chin up, okay? Today is supposed to be a happy occasion, so if those tears of yours aren’t tears of joy, you better stop right now.”

Blackburn wiped her eyes, but became choked up and found it hard to speak.

Gadget then turned her “head” slightly to face Lockwood. “And you. So! You’re the King now, huh? How’s it feel to be royalty, featherbrain?”

Lockwood managed to compose himself better than Blackburn was, but only just. “Well, it’s only been a few hours, so I can’t really say much about it yet. It’s kind of weird having ponies call me ‘King’ or ‘Sire’ or ‘Your Majesty’ now, though. Though from how Blackburn’s described it, it’s not too much different from being the landlord of a whole city.”

“Golly, you just made being King sound like the most mundane thing in the world. If there’s anypony in the world who could make being royalty sound like crossing the street, though, I guess it’s you. Sheesh.”

Another glowing orb, this one two different shades of brown, formed beside Gadget and took the form of a tall earth pony. Like she’d done, it opened its “eyes” and gave a smile with its “mouth”.

“Y’all’re begin’ too hard on ‘im, Gadget,” said this new figure. “He’s the King now. Y’all’re s’posed ta treat ‘im wit’ respect ‘n politeness. Ain’t like we’d have ‘im any other way, right? The pony that can downplay gettin’ beaten up like it was a stroll in the park?”

Blackburn looked up, eyes wide. “Crossfire?

“Howdy there, Blackburn. Gadget’s right, y’all look beautiful in that there dress.” As Blackburn opened her mouth to speak, Crossfire’s head shook slightly. “An’ don’t y’all start apologizin’ fer what happened. Like Gadget said, we did what we had ta do an’ we don’t regret it one bit. If we hadn’t done what we did, the two of y’all wouldn’t be here now enjoyin’ bein’ wit’ one another.”

Lockwood shook his head. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, Crossfire. You two meant the world to Blackburn. You’re her brother and sister in all but name.”

“Well o’ course it hurts, ol’ buddy, I ain’t sayin’ it don’t. An’ I ain’t tellin’ nopony not ta hurt, neither. But, I sure as shootin’ ain’t gonna let Blackburn try ‘n’ take the blame for anythin’ that happened like she always does. We all made the decisions we made that day together, as a team, an’ if we don’t regret it, neither should she.”

Blackburn took a deep breath, hardly able to speak. “I miss you both… so, so much…”

“We know ya do,” Crossfire said.

“And we miss you, too,” Gadget added.

Blackburn moved forward quickly and wrapped her forelegs around the forms of her two friends. She found that the two weren’t entirely solid; it felt like hugging a cloud: not quite all there, but as a pegasus she could still feel it; not exactly cold, but not exactly warm, either. The two forms did not move to do the same, as they couldn’t do so, but Blackburn could still feel the sensation of hooves wrapping around her all the same.

When Blackburn finally pulled away, she’d managed to compose herself enough that she was able to wipe away her tears, but she didn’t say anything; she couldn’t think of anything more to say.

Lockwood, at least, made an attempt. “So, uh… we built a statue in your honor. Right out in front of the palace gates, actually.”

“Oh yeah, we saw it,” Crossfire said, a grin playing across his face. “That is some fancy stuff, yessir.”

“And very tasteful, I might add,” Gadget noted, also grinning. “I think you guys made me a little taller, so thanks for that.”

“Maybe a little, hard not to,” Lockwood chuckled.

“Yeah yeah yeah, wiseguy.”

“Glad ta see y’all’ve been eatin’ right, by the way,” Crossfire said. “Not so scrawny after all, are ya?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s what five years of climbing stairs will do to your tone, huh? It sure helped you guys while you were up north too, remember?”

“Don’t remind me,” Gadget snorted. “Golly, if I had hooves right now, they’d still be aching from all those dang stairs.”

Gadget and Crossfire then very suddenly shifted off to the side in an instant, so fast that neither Blackburn nor Lockwood had even seen it happen.

Blackburn raised an eyebrow and glanced around in a slight panic. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t worry, Blackburn, we’re not going anywhere just yet,” Gadget said. “We’re just gonna step a bit back from center stage while the others come and say their piece.”

“Others?”

Another orb of magic, this one a whitish-blue, formed in front of Blackburn, taking the shape of a taller unicorn. “I must say, darling, that dress of yours looks absolutely fabulous. Stunning, even,” the figure said.

Blackburn blinked, reaching her hoof out towards the figure. “Silver Glow?”

Silver Glow’s form gave a little smile. “Hello, Blackburn. It’s nice to see you again, even if it’s under these circumstances.” Her head tilted just slightly towards Lockwood. “And this must be the special somepony you found up north. He’s very handsome, dear. Hmmm, yes. Quite fetching. The eyepatch is a little much though, don’t you think?”

Lockwood gave a polite nod. “Um… thank you. Good evening, I’m Lockwood, Your Majesty—”

“Oh please, none of that ‘Majesty’ nonsense. I’m no Queen anymore, dear; your lovely wife is, and you are her King. If anything I should be addressing you formally, hmm?” She turned back to Blackburn briefly. “He’s very polite too, darling. I see what you mean when you said I’d like him. He certainly makes a good first impression.”

Blackburn managed a small smile. “He tries his best. I’m… I’m sorry that you never got to meet him before—”

“Hush, Blackburn, no need to bring up all that negativity here. What happened happened, it’s in the past now. I lived a full, happy life, and I’m glad that even though it was cut short, I was able to, at least for a moment, consider you family—”

“You will always be family to me, Silver Glow.” Blackburn raised her hoof up to touch Silver Glow’s cheek.

“And to me as well,” Lockwood added with a smile. “I know I never got to meet you… but Blackburn told me all about you. I’m glad I finally got to meet you, even if it’s like this.”

Silver Glow smiled again. “You two are just lovely together. Such a wonderful couple. I’m so glad to see that Blackburn found somepony worthy of sharing her life with. And might I add, your wedding rings are absolutely gorgeous. A wonderful choice; quite luxurious.”

Silver Glow shifted very slightly off to the side, and another orb of energy, this one gray-and-orange, manifested at her side and took the form of a tall pegasus. The fairly neutral expression on his face was instantly recognizable to Blackburn; she didn’t even need him to speak.

“Dad,” Blackburn said, her tone as neutral as the expression she herself was giving.

“Blackburn,” Stormchaser replied. “You look lovely.”

Blackburn blinked. “Thank you.”

“It’s only fitting that you should, being Queen and all. The ponies of Hope’s Point deserve to have somepony that takes care of themselves as much as she takes care of them.” He shook his head weakly. “I can never apologize enough for the way I treated you while you were growing up, Blackburn.”

“...I treated you poorly too, dad. All that mattered to me was being… different. Different from you, different from everypony. I know I blamed you for mom’s death… but that wasn’t fair. Neither of us were there for each other… when we needed to be.”

“Blackburn, honey… it’s alright. Your grandfather always used to say that you can’t live a life of regrets. Don’t start now, okay? You’ve grown up so much since I last saw you… I never saw it when we were together because of how our relationship soured over the years.”

Blackburn nodded, then gestured towards Lockwood. “Dad… this is Lockwood. Lockwood… this is my dad.”

Lockwood bowed slightly. “A pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.”

“No need for that here, son. You’re the King of Hope’s Point now, remember?” Stormchaser chuckled, then turned to Blackburn. “So, this is the stallion that made you go running back up north even when I tried to stop you, hmm?”

Lockwood made to answer, but Blackburn was quicker: “Yes. He is.”

Stormchaser smirked. “Hmm, you’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.” He turned to Lockwood.“Go on, son.”

“Yes sir, I am,” Lockwood said with a nod. “If things had been different, I had fully intended to go through all of the proper processes of getting married to your daughter when she brought me home with her.”

“You mean you planned on asking me for permission and all that? Son, you love my daughter, you know as well as I do that she’d never let you even get that far. She claimed you, and there wasn’t going to be a pony alive that would stop her from being with you forever. If anything, I blame myself for you two spending so long apart. I’m sorry for that.”

“No regrets, dad,” Blackburn chimed in. “Remember?”

“Of course, of course.” Stormchaser gave his daughter a little smile. “I know you’ll continue to do good for our city, Blackburn. You’re going to be the Queen you always said you would be. I’m proud of you… I’m proud of how strong you are, of how determined you are to do what you think is right no matter who stands in your way. I know I never said it while I was alive… but I’m telling you now. I am proud of you.”

Blackburn weakly smiled back, then stepped forward to give Stormchaser and Silver Glow a hug as she had with Gadget and Crossfire. When she pulled away, they were gone.

Blackburn stepped back and wiped her eyes again, then fearfully turned to Gadget and Crossfire, just to make sure they were still there. They hadn’t budged an inch; Blackburn breathed a sigh of relief.

Another orb of light, this one red-and-orange, manifested in front of Blackburn, and formed yet another tall pegasus. Blackburn had already started seeing a pattern; she figured out who this was before he’d even fully taken form.

“Grandpa…” she breathed.

Flashfire’s “eyes “ opened and he gave Blackburn a tiny smile. “You’ve gotten good that that, haven’t you, my little ray of sunshine?”

“Had lots of practice, grandpa.”

“I know you have, sweetheart. My little Princess…” His smile widened a little. “No, my not-so-little Queen Blackburn now, aren’t you?”

Blackburn nodded. “I’m trying my best, grandpa…”

“Trying? My dear, you are doing. Your father expanded the city far beyond what I ever dreamed possible, so far I wasn’t sure it could be kept safe… and you’ve managed to prove that it can be. And now you’re expanding it further after helping to do what I never thought possible: you brought light to the north again.”

“I just want to live up to your legacy, grandpa—”

“You’ve more than done that, Blackburn. You’ve surpassed me in ways I never would’ve thought of. You’ve surpassed your father. You’ve surpassed all of the expectations that we put upon you, and then some. I am proud of you, sweetheart. You’ve grown up so much.”

Blackburn smiled, then gestured to Lockwood. “Grandpa, this is Lockwood. Lockwood, this is Flashfire, my grandfather.”

Lockwood smiled politely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“A pleasure to meet you too, son. I hear you’ve been taking good care of my granddaughter.”

“I try, sir.”

“Well, keep it up,” Flashfire said with a grin. “I have a feeling you’re going to be a great King. From one king to another.”

Lockwood, eyes wide, bowed just slightly. “Th-thank you, sir. That means a lot.”

Blackburn stepped forward to embrace her grandfather. “I’ve missed you, grandpa… I’ll do everything I can to keep your dream alive…”

“I know you will, my little ray of sunshine. Because it’s our dream now, not just mine alone. And you have Lockwood with you to share that dream with you.”

As Blackburn pulled back from the hug, Flashfire’s form disappeared, and Blackburn took a step back and took a deep breath. The pattern was playing out further, so she knew what to expect when one last orb of blue appeared in front of her and took the shape of a shorter pegasus. As soon as it was done, Blackburn stepped forward again and wrapped it in a tight hug.

“Momma…”

The form of Blue Blitz did not move, but Blackburn could feel her mother’s warm embrace tighten around here. “Hey kiddo…”

“I’ve missed you so much, momma…”

“I know sweetheart. I’ve missed you too.” Blackburn could feel her mother’s hooves running through her mane. “You’ve gotten so big. Look at you! You look gorgeous, kiddo. Only you could make a wedding dress look cool.”

Blackburn laughed. “I tried my best.”

“Still taking after me after all this time still, huh? No frilly froo-froo stuff for my little filly, no sir.” She turned slightly to face Lockwood. “So, you’re the one that stole her heart, huh? Hmm… yeah, okay, I kinda get it.”

Lockwood felt her hoof run over his eyepatch and injured wing.

“Yeah, he’s cool, I can dig it. Battle scars and a pirate eyepatch, the whole package.”

Lockwood chuckled. “I think it’s more that she stole my heart, miss. It’s a pleasure to meet you, by the way. Blackburn’s told me all about you, and then some. She admires you, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. I was pretty awesome, huh?” Blitz said confidently with a slight smirk. “I know you’re going to make her happy. I can already tell you’ve made her the happiest mare in the world.”

Blackburn felt her mother’s hoof pat her stomach; she blushed and coughed slightly. “Y-you... know, huh?”

“Kiddo, I am your mother. I should know when my little filly’s got a bun in the oven. Your father barely noticed when I was pregnant with you until I got so big that we couldn’t, well, y’know, and your grandfather’s probably got the tact not to say anything. Not me, though.”

Blackburn smiled and glanced over at Lockwood briefly, who was tugging at his tie. “He has made me very happy, momma.”

“My little filly keeps you grounded, keeps you safe, not just from others but from yourself at times,” Blitz said to Lockwood. “But you, you make her soar, make her feel loved for who she is. I know you’ll take good care of her.”

Lockwood smiled. “I always will, Blue Blitz. I promise.”

Blackburn looked back at her mother’s form, and the tears started to well up again. “I don’t want you to go again…”

“I’m sorry, kiddo… but I have to. But I won’t be gone forever. As long as you keep me in here—” she tapped Blackburn’s heart “—I won’t ever leave you. I love you, sweetheart. You’ve grown up to be the kind of mare I always wanted you to be: brave, smart, fast, and loved. You’ve made me so proud to be your mother.”

Blackburn tightened the embrace again, and felt as her mother’s form evaporated in her grip. She pulled away, wiping tears from her eyes, then turned to Gadget and Crossfire, who watched her with gentle smiles. “Gadget… Crossfire…”

“We have to go, too, Blackburn,” Gadget said, her smile unfaltering. “But your mom’s right: as long as you keep us in your heart, we’ll always be with you, through everything, just like we were in life.”

“We’re always gonna be watchin’ o’er y’all ‘n’ the folks who matter most ta ya,” Crossfire added. “We’ll be wit’ ya through thick ‘n’ thin. An’ when y’all think o’ us, don’t regret how our journey together ended. Think o’ all the happiness we shared as friends when ya share our story wit’ that lil’ colt or filly y’all’re gonna bring inta the world.”

“And you’d better tell them all about us, Blackburn,” Gadget said, narrowing her eyes. “Or so help me, I’ll find a way to get back at you.”

“Wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise,” Blackburn said, shaking her head.

“We’ll see each other again someday,” Crossfire continued. “Jus’ promise us y’all won’t be in a hurry ta do it. When we see ya again, we wanna hear about the long, happy lives y’all lived. Both o’ ya,” he added, looking to Lockwood. “We’ll have forever ta catch up after that.”

“I promise,” Lockwood said with a nod.

“Me too,” added Blackburn. She sniffed, barely holding back tears. “Goodbye, Gadget,” she said moving forward to hug Gadget’s form. She turned to Crossfire and hugged him next. “Goodbye, Crossfire.”

Lockwood came up and did the same. “I’m glad that Blackburn had such good friends. I hope our foal will have somepony like you two in their life someday.”

The four of them all came together for a group hug, just like old times. When the hug broke, Gadget and Crossfire’s forms started slowly fading away.

“Congratulations on the wedding, by the way,” Crossfire said, his voice quiet and distant. “The food looked great.”

“Yeah, about dang time you two tied the knot,” added Gadget, her voice also fading.

Seconds later, their two forms disappeared, and then, all in a single instant, the golden glow that surrounded them vanished. Blackburn, Lockwood, and Harmonia were back in the royal bedchambers. Harmonia’s horn dimmed, and she let out a harsh breath as she hung her head, exhausted.

Blackburn, barely keeping her composure, had to turn away, closing her eyes to try and regain her focus.

Lockwood was able to regain his a little quicker, taking a deep breath and wrapping Blackburn in a hug. He turned to Harmonia, noticing that she was clearly struggling just to stand. “Lady Harmonia?”

Harmonia stood and shook her head. “Forgiveth me, my little ponies. As I said, tapping into the Dreaming in this form is a taxing experience. I hath never expended such energy, not since taking this body. But I wished to thank thee for thy role, so this discomfort is but a trifle.”

Blackburn broke from her hug with Lockwood and gave him a brief look; with just a gesture of her wing, Lockwood knew what she wanted to do. The two then briskly walked over to Harmonia, leaning up to give the larger alicorn a hug around the neck. Harmonia was taken aback, eyes wide, as the two smaller ponies embraced her.

“Thank you…” Blackburn breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you… so much…”

“You have no idea how much this means to us,” Lockwood said.

Harmonia fidgetted unevenly in their embrace; this was the first time since taking a physical body that anypony had given her any kind of genuine, loving physical interaction, and she could tell they were excessively genuine. She was able to lean into their embrace, her energy strengthened by their presence.

“Thou… thou art welcome, both of you,” she said, hesitant.

“We will do everything in our power,” Blackburn continued, pulling away from the hug to give Harmonia a serious, proud look, “to make sure that the north becomes a land of light again. To help you, as you have helped us. You have my word as Queen of Hope’s Point.”

“And mine, as King,” Lockwood added with a nod.

Harmonia smiled. “I know that thou art sincere, Queen Blackburn and King Lockwood. It will take time to bring life and light back to these dark lands, but I know that with ponies like thee on my side, I can accomplish anything.” She cleared her throat and took a breath. “But I must leave thee now, my little ponies. There is work to be done, and I hath interrupted thy evening long enough.”

Blackburn and Lockwood each bowed gently before her. “Lady Harmonia.”

Harmonia then lit her horn, she shimmered, and then she was gone.

Lockwood looked at Blackburn with a coy grin. “What do you think Tick Tock’ll say when we tell her that Harmonia topped her wedding gift?”

“Likely several words not appropriate in polite company,” Blackburn muttered as a smile played on her face. “Probably best not to mention it. Would never let us hear the end of it.”

“Yeah, fair enough.” Lockwood agreed with a chuckle.

Blackburn then glanced at Lockwood, then at the bed, and smiled. “Shall we, my King?” she asked as she stepped in to start removing his tie.

Lockwood smiled and lifted off her veil. “Of course, my Queen.”

The End