Fur Umbra

Chapter 4: An Expected Guest Part 2
They all sat silently around the somewhat lavish, yet children’s-party-themed table. Fur was trying to hide himself in his cloak and pretend he wasn’t there, despite the cloak never being intended for use in this kind of situation. On his left sat Discord, whom was messing around with a deck of cards to Pinkie’s glee, the mare herself beaming in delight and giggling from time to time. Next to him sat Celestia, her expression unreadable, though not entirely pleasant or calm, but certainly not hostile either. Cadance was next, sipping tea with a calm and innocent facade, though it was somewhat obvious that she was faking it. Then was pinkie, Twilight (trying to hide in her mane and more than a little concerned about the situation), and Spike (nervous simply because of the unease in the air from the combined nerves of everyone present). Luna was next, a slight scowl on her face, though her true thoughts were undecipherable. And finally, Gleaming Shield sat next to Luna and an empty seat was between her and Fur.

Celestia and Luna had been waiting here after giving one last pep-talk to Cadance and Twilight before they went into the room next door where the nobles (and Fur) were, before waiting here at the table for their return with their fiancée/s. Then Discord had shown up, carting along Fur, and plonking both of them down at the table, rambling on about the “match made in heaven”. Then at his mention of the word “party”, a Pinkie had shown up (Celestia was certain there was more than one of them at this point) and the place was instantaneously decorated in all sorts of interesting decor. Soon after, the young princesses themselves, along with a few others, made their way in and sat down. The other elements would have been in attendance as well, but Twilight advised them to stay back for a while, so long as princesses Celestia and Luna were in such a volatile mood.

It was silent. It was awkward. And to Fur it seemed to last forever. He hadn’t expected any of this- of course he didn’t, this was unprecedented! Two princesses getting married to the same stallion was rare, outright myth if not for the actions of Celestia and Luna over 1000 years ago, but for both to be marrying a commoner of all people. It was unheard of in the slightest. AND HE WASN’T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE THERE!

A clock on the far side of the wall could be heard ticking in the almost-but-not-quite silence of the room.

The atmosphere was heavy, tense in the extreme, and nopony wanted to break the silence, even if they all wanted it to end.

While Discord and Pinkie paid no mind to the dilemma of those around them, Celestia, with her years of wisdom, summoned the strength and made the first move.

“So this is how it is,” the room fell silent once again. Celestia sighed, “I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised, something like this was bound to happen at some point in Equestrian history. I just thought we had already avoided it with neither of you holding onto any serious previous relationship.”

Cadance and Gleaming looked at each other somewhat subtly, though it was clear she was talking about them. They had had to give up their relationship together when it became apparent that Cadance would have to marry another for the sake of her role as princess, but the feelings between them remained mutual, if a little bit diluted.

Luna looked up, “Well, look at the bright side. At least we don’t have to worry about the Griphonian delegation complaining after the stunt they pulled, so at least thats one less kingdom we’ll have to explain this to,” she stood up from her seat, “Maybe we should just throw this whole thing out the window in the first place and pretend we’re normal ponies that live normal lives and not some imortal demi-godesses that control some of the most fundamental aspects of every-day life!!”

“Luna, calm down. We are trying to deal with this situation in a reasonable manner,” Celestia admonished. “Besides, I am certain there is a very good reason behind this decision. Perhaps they didn’t know that this stallion wasn’t a part of the proceedings and-“

Discord interrupted her. “Oh, they knew alright. They knew for WEEKS before today! And they still chose him!Its almost like nobles are stuck-up pricks and a real person is so much better that they’d both jump at the chance no matter who the pony is!“

“THATS NOT TRUE!!” Twilight yelled back. “The... bit about nobles is true, yeah. But Fur’s not just anypony! He’s-“ Twilight cut herself off, realising what she was about to say. Under any other circumstances she would have blurted it out without a second thought, but she realised where the line of thought was going and stopped herself short before she accidentally made the situation any worse.

“He’s...what, exactly?” Luna questioned.

Twilight relented; “He’s... he’s special... to me, to us. He saved my life when Tallon attacked me in my room, and even though he was uncomfortable with the whole situation, he stayed with me until I fell asleep again. If it wasn’t for him...”

Celestia perked up at this news. Twilight and Cadance had told her that they’d managed to fight off Talon at first, before giving in and telling her that a mysterious somepony helped them when the evidence of another presence with Twilight in the tower that night became undeniable, though they had never revealed who it was that was with them.

Gleaming and Luna frowned. It seemed a little too convenient that somepony was there that night to help Twilight when nopony else was around, especially after they chose to marry said pony. Cadance noticed their looks though, and spoke her piece.

“If you’re thinking he was there on purpose, think again. You remember the loose tiles on the roof? The ones that would shift in the night like someone was running on them and slipped? That was Fur. He’s been stargazing from up there since he was a colt... well,” Cadance looked at Fur a little sheepishly; “a much younger colt,” Fur shot her a glance; “He knows the outside of the castle better than I do, and I’ve been living here for years!”

Luna turned to the stallion, whom at this very moment seemed more like a frightened colt pretending the monsters under the bed weren’t there. “Is this true?” She asked with authority.

Fur, under his hood and as curled into a ball as he could possibly make himself, nodded; “Y-yes, y-your highness...”

Celestia turned her attention from Fur back to her sister. “Well, he’s not lying.” Noticing the look her sister had, she added “and would you please stop with the overbearing presence, you’re scaring the poor stallion.”

Luna mumbled a brief, though not too heartfelt “sorry” and relaxed a little bit.

“I know it seems a little bit coincidental, but things like this happen. Perhaps it was just meant to be, perhaps it was just dumb luck. But whatever it is, Cadance and Twilight did chose him, whether we like the circumstances or not.”

“Perhaps you could not talk about this as if we aren’t here,” Cadance mentioned.

“Apologies,” said Celestia a little guiltily.

“Fur, are you alright? I know we didn’t exactly ask for your opinion in all this...” Twilight asked.

Fur gave a small, depressing chuckle, “Hahaha... dad’s gonna kill me...”

Discord spoke up, “Really? Two ‘all-powerful’ princesses holding your fate in the palms of their hands, and all you’re worried about is your old man’s reaction to all this?”

Fur looked up a bit at Discord, “Believe me, you’d be scared too if you knew what he’s like. Especially given what I did... and what I’ve gotten myself into.”

Luna, still searching for any fault in him that might give him away was first to ask, “and what did you do?”

“Stole my dad’s cloak,” Fur slightly lifted the cloak he had wrapped himself in, “Multiple times. Without permission, and against dad’s wishes. Not to mention I’m supposed to be grounded right now and the cloak locked up in its case until dad gets back in 2 days after he caught me with it last time.” Another self-deprecating laugh. “I’m so screwed.”