There were numerous sounds in the centuries-old Royal Palace: the creaking of stone foundations, the rattle of ancient plumbing, the clicking of hooves on marble tile as servant-ponies moved efficiently about their tasks. Yet there was one sound above all others that made Lieutenant Gallus's blood run like ice: the stern, merciless tap-tap-tap of iron-armored shoes.
And it was headed his way.
It figures, the blue-pinioned, golden-armored griffon thought. I graduate from the Friendship School, think I've finally gotten away from her. And then I forget who she works for and join the Guard. And of course I get hoof-picked for the Royal detachment... and now she's my boss.
Commander Tempest hove into view around the corner. The tall, maroon, black-armored unicorn approached the troop of Royal Guard soldiers standing just outside the doors of the Royal Suite. And the guards snapped smartly to attention. There was one officer in the Palace to whom even the Captain of the Royal Guard answered: the Princess's personal guardian.
And Tempest Shadow was it.
Tempest favored Gallus with an arch look. "Mister Gallus," she purred, with just a hint of a smile. "So nice to see you again."
Gallus hunched inside his armor. It was like she was the Friendship School's truant officer, all over again.
"Ma'am," he replied, trying to sound cool and indifferent.
"All quiet?" Tempest asked.
"Yes, Ma'am." Gallus cautiously replied, paying strict attention to her. Other officers would catch you out on minor points of dress or protocol. Tempest would catch you out on not being quick enough to dodge her. "There was some kind of shouting inside earlier," Gallus went on. "But... you said that was normal."
"Perfectly." Tempest nodded. "Especially on a day like today. Spike can normally handle the Princess's little... moments. And when he can't..." She made a face. "It means it's actually something serious."
She motioned with her head towards the empty corridor behind her.
"I'll take over here, Lieutenant. Head down to the entrance and make sure the Princess's carriage and escort are waiting. We don't want to be late, today of all days. Do we?" She added a dangerous glare for emphasis.
"No, ma'am. We sure don't want that." Gallus agreed. "And uh... best of luck today. To both of you, I mean."
"Thank you, Lieutenant." For a moment Tempest's expression softened just a trifle, though only one who knew her volcanic mood as well as Gallus did would have noticed it. "This is the Princess of Friendship we're talking about," she grumbled. "So we'll need all the luck we can get. Dismissed."
Gallus nodded in acknowledgement, but waited until the Commander was safely past him and heading toward the Suite doors before he turned to leave. As he did so he saw Grubber, Tempest's white-maned hedgehog assistant, trotting past. The hedgehog was carrying a flat, square, red-foiled box wrapped with magenta ribbons and a lavender bow. As Grubber went by he winked at Gallus, and gave him an encouraging thumb's-up.
Gallus knew full well that Palace protocol demanded anything being brought into the Royal Suite be inspected by the guard on duty. He also knew Tempest would have his beak and pinfeathers if he even brought it up. So he gave the box a really close look as it passed by, and chalked it up as having been duly inspected, according to the letter of the rules.
Then he bounded away down the corridor, toward the stairs, to see to the carriage and escort. When Commander Tempest used that tone, no one wanted to displease her.
In the Royal Suite's spacious bedroom, Princess Twilight Sparkle, ruler of all Equestria, was seated at her dressing table in a beam of warm sunlight, which poured in through the arch that led to the room's broad balcony. Twilight was dressed in an elegant, flowing white gown. Her golden crown was sitting on the table beside her.
And her face was planted squarely on the table top. She groaned miserably.
There was a loud rap at the door.
"Go 'way," Twilight said, in a muffled, hopeless voice.
"Sorry, Your Highness," Tempest called through the doors. "But it's my job to check on you, remember?" Then she pushed one of the doors open and leaned around it.
Twilight looked up at her, then turned away quickly. "Urgh, don't look at me, Tempest. I'm a mess... I'm a disaster!"
"You are a little rough around the edges," Tempest commented blandly, as she hoofed the door shut behind her and then walked over. "Your mane, for instance."
"I've had it styled," Twilight objected. "Twice."
"Anxiety makes the split ends curl." Tempest moved to stand behind Twilight, then glanced upward at her broken horn.
"If you wouldn't mind?"
Twilight nodded. Lighting her horn, she cast the stabilizing spell around Tempest's horn. And then Tempest used her stabilized magic to lift a brush from the table. She gently ran it through Twilight's mane, straightening out the flyaways as best she could.
Twilight smiled up at her, in the mirror before them. "Thanks."
"Not a problem, Princess. You know that."
Soothed, Twilight shut her eyes contentedly, visibly relaxing. And then suddenly she leaned back, resting her head against the chest-plate of Tempest's armor. Tempest set the brush down, and then carefully rested her chin comfortingly atop Twilight's mane.
"You're getting taller, Princess," the Commander said after a bit. "This is more of a stretch these days."
"Yeah, I know. I can scootch down a bit, if it would help."
"No need. I'm fine," Tempest said. "You know, there aren't many ponies in the realm who are permitted to do this."
"There aren't many ponies in the realm quite like you, Tempest," Twilight answered, looking up at her in the mirror.
"Don't get complacent, Your Highness," Tempest lifted her head to scowl at Twilight in the mirror. "I could just be biding my time, playing the long game. Pretending to be one of your most trusted friends, worming my way into your heart, undermining all the security. And then, one day, I spring my evil plan --" Her eyes glared maliciously. "-- and seize power!"
"Do you even have an evil plan, anymore?" Twilight asked.
"I toy with one, now and again," Tempest said dismissively. "And if I actually think it would work, I go find the reason it would work and give that pony nine kinds of Tartarus until they fix it."
Twilight grinned at that. Then she sighed helplessly.
"Today's the big day, Tempest. I hope I don't mess it up."
"You won't," Tempest said matter-of-factly. "You're the Princess of Equestria. You can't mess it up. If you do, it just becomes the newest tradition."
"Oh, yeesh!" Twilight shook her head. "Don't even joke like that. An occasion like this only happens once in a lifetime!"
"True. And coming from an alicorn," Tempest agreed, "that's saying something."
Twilight's face fell. She stared at herself in the mirror, silently.
Tempest watched her for a while. Then she shrugged a hoof out of its armored shoe, and rested the hoof on the Princess's shoulder. "Going to have to face it one day, Princess," she said gently. "You're an ageless alicorn, with all the baggage that entails."
"I don't..." Twilight said quietly, "I don't want to outlive them all, Tempest!"
The Commander smiled. "Don't worry, Twilight. When the time comes, you'll think of something. You always do." She leaned closer to whisper in Twilight's ear. "You're really at your best when you're forced to improvise, you know!"
Twilight smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. And I certainly wouldn't want to outlive you," she went on. "I mean, Spike and I have been together most of my life. But he... he's kind of like my little brother. I look after him as much as he looks after me. But you? You're somepony I can count on to look after me, full stop. I'd really miss that, if you weren't here."
Tempest eyed her coldly. "Even though I once tried to conquer Equestria? Turned your beloved mentor to stone? Put you in a cage?"
"Yeah." Twilight nodded. "Even so. Strange but true, huh?"
"Just making sure you were paying attention." Tempest nodded gratefully. Then she smirked. "How come you haven't found yourself a traditional royal consort, Princess? A noble, or a well-placed diplomat, something like that?"
Twilight eyed her. "You keep chasing away all the possibilities."
"I do not."
"Oh yes you do! What about last week, during the Northern Lands conference, when I was having dinner with that nice young diplomat from Griffonstone?"
"I never said a word," Tempest objected blandly.
"You didn't have to," Twilight retorted. "You just stood in the shadows glaring at him for the entire meal. I think he went home early because he was having nightmares about being watched."
Tempest thought about it, then made a dismissive face. "I could tell you didn't feel he was right for you."
Twilight nodded sadly. "And in the end, that was true. Like the rest, he was more interested in the crown than me. More interested in alliances, trade agreements -- networking." She rolled her eyes. "Not like you, Tempest. You're not like that at all. You always put me first."
"Remember, Princess..." Tempest warned, "all part of my evil plan..." Then she shrugged. "Anyways..."
"How come you haven't found somepony yet?" Twilight asked. "Not that I'm playing matchmaker, Tempest, not at all... I'm just curious."
Tempest shook her head. "I still find it too hard to trust anypony, Princess. To let down my guard. When I'm talking with anypony else, I feel like I'm fighting a war. Like I can't afford to slip up, lose the tactical advantage, let anyone catch me off guard. But with you, it's not like that. With you, I have somepony I can talk to. Somepony I can open up with, without worrying my evil past will come up and spoil things... because it already has. Somepony I can be myself with. Who likes me for the pony I am, rather than the pony they think I ought to be."
"No question there," Twilight replied. "And you know, it's funny, but I feel the same way? When I'm talking with anypony else, I have to be Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria... the pony in charge, who knows it all and has it all together. I have to be there for everypony, non-stop. Even when I'm totally at a loss myself."
"What about the others?" Tempest asked. "Your Council of Friendship? Applejack, Rarity, and the rest?"
Twilight nodded. "They help, when we meet every moon, and in between. But they can't be here all the time. And I can't ask them to drop everything just because it's all getting to be a bit much for me. And whenever it does..." She glanced around at the silent, empty room. "And I retreat in here, and sit trying to work it all out... what to do, what to say..."
She looked back into the mirror, at Tempest.
"...there you are. You're always around, Tempest, no matter what. I can talk with you, let it all out, put it all down. And suddenly it's not that big a burden anymore. Because I know you've got my back, in a way few other ponies have."
She smiled up at the Commander again.
"You know, if I never found anypony else," she said feelingly, "I could do a lot worse than somepony like you, Tempest."
They stared at each other in the mirror, for long while. Then Tempest cleared her throat. It was as close to being flustered as Twilight had ever seen her. "So, have you finally figured out what you're going to say?" she asked. "Settled on the wording for the vows?"
"Yep. I did my homework on this one." Twilight reached out a hoof and drew over a thick notebook, its pages littered with sticky notes in a crayon-box spectrum of colors. "I thought we might go with the convocation given by Celestia on the occasion of her quincentennial -- short, but very evocative. And mix it up with a bit of Princess Platinum's exordium, at least what the history books have of it, anyway."
"My history's a bit rusty... is that the one where she was marrying herself?"
"To a pegasus noble-pony, yes," Twilight said. "And for the vows, I thought we'd use the three-tribe formulation, which was popular around the time of the Unification. Make the vows sound really grand, worthy of the occasion."
"You know, Twilight," Tempest said gently, "your friends want to hear you up there. Not some five-hundred-year-old speech. For something this important, they want to look up and see their friend, speaking from her heart -- not out of some dusty old book."
"It is not a dusty old book!" Twilight objected, putting a hoof protectively on the notebook's cover. "I compiled it myself, every page!"
"How many appendices does it have?" Tempest asked sharply.
Twilight blushed. "Only four?"
"Your restraint is commendable. But seriously, Princess, is this a wedding or a history lesson?"
Twilight sighed. "I just want to be sure we do it right, Tempest. Like I said, an occasion like this only comes once in a lifetime. And I don't want to mess it up. I want everything in order, so we can just roll right through it, without me stumbling over anything."
"If you say so," Tempest said doubtfully.
There was a knock on the door, and then it was pushed open, and Grubber looked in.
"Hey, boss? Spike just got back from checkin' on the bride and groom, like Twilight asked. And he says they're ready whenever she is."
"We'll be out in a moment," Tempest replied. "As soon as Her Highness here remembers to put her crown back on."
Twilight frowned at Tempest, then picked up her regalia in her magic and settled it in place. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the red-foiled box in Grubber's paws.
"Just a little something from me," Tempest replied. "A present, to mark the occasion."
"Aw, that was nice of you, Tempest! I'm sure they'll love it, whatever it is."
"No doubt," Tempest said, eyeing Twilight uncertainly. "Are you ready, Your Highness?"
"I believe I am, Commander!" Twilight gathered up the sticky-noted notebook and shoved it into the pocket of her carryall, which she levitated beside her in her magic so as not to muss her gown. "Lead on!"
The ceremony was held in the Canterlot Royal Gardens, in a large clearing reserved for such events. The traditional floral arch and potted plants had been set up, and before it were rows of seats for the attendees. And Pinkie Pie had clearly been at work: there were balloons and bunting galore, and tables were set up around the outskirts of the celebration area for the reception party. A table near the back was already piled high with gifts for the happy couple.
Princess Twilight felt doubly nervous as she walked down the center aisle, through the crowd of genuflecting ponies and other guests. She thought back to Princess Cadance's wedding, in the Royal Wedding Hall... thought back to the moment when Princess Celestia had walked in, crossed the room to the dais, stepped up onto the platform, turned about, and was instantly ready to conduct the ceremony, giving every sign of ease and experience with the proceedings...
... and now it was her turn. Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, standing in front of the waiting audience, preparing to conduct a wedding ceremony for the first time in her reign.
And hoping it wouldn't be her last.
Twilight tucked her carryall behind one of the plant pots next to the arch where it would be in easy reach, and then looked out at the audience, trying her best to look calm and confident.
She saw Commander Tempest taking her place amongst the Guard contingent stationed to the right. She saw Grubber pushing the red-foil box onto the gifts table, then hurrying around behind the audience to join Tempest. She saw the groom's mother, Stellar Flare, in the front row to the left. The red-maned unicorn was already trying to take charge of seating arrangements on that side of the audience. Twilight saw the other Element bearers -- Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy -- seated with their own family and friends on both sides of the aisle. She saw the Great and Powerful Best Mare, Trixie, standing off to the side, dressed in her finest magician's hat and robe and looking unusually nervous.
To Twilight's immediate left was the groom, Sunburst. Like Trixie, he was dressed in a silken wizard's robe. His mane and beard were immaculately combed. He looked ready to pass out, though not from nervousness but from sheer exhilaration. He was visibly restraining himself from jabbering a mile a minute, compulsively resettling his spectacles over and over.
And at the back of the audience, standing in readiness, Twilight saw the bride: Starlight Glimmer. The lavender, purple-maned unicorn was dressed in a shimmering cyan gown, a gold-and-silk headband and veil on her mane. Beside her was her father, Firelight. The purple unicorn was kitted out in full tuxedo and top-hat... and looked ready to burst into tears of joy at any moment.
Best not to keep them waiting, Twilight told herself, and motioned for the procession to commence.
"Mares and gentlestallions," Twilight began, once Sunburst and Starlight were standing before her. "Fellow citizens, honored guests." She glanced around, smiling. "And good friends! We are gathered today to witness the union of Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst. Two very great friends of mine, which makes performing this ceremony on their behalf an equally great honor!"
Starlight Glimmer gratefully returned Twilight's smile, her mouth trembling with anxious excitement. Facing Starlight, Sunburst was standing so stiff, proud, and glassy-eyed, he might well have been stuffed.
Wait until they hear the opening remarks, Twilight thought, reaching behind her with her magic, and pulling the book out of her carryall. This'll really blow their shoes off!
She brought the book around, looked down at it...
And nearly fainted dead on the spot.
It wasn't her notebook, festooned with color-coded sticky notes marking sections and passages for every eventuality. It was an entirely different book... though a startlingly familiar one.
It was the book of memories, which Twilight had been presented by Starlight and all her other friends, just after Twilight's coronation. Twilight had kept it up-to-date with more recent events afterward. And there was just one, plain-colored sticky-note attached to one of the later pages in it.
Hiding her nervousness, Twilight flipped the book open to that page. It held a montage of images... Starlight during her first lessons at Twilight's Castle... Sunburst proudly holding Princess Flurry Heart... Sunburst, Starlight and Twilight playing Dragon Pit together... Starlight sitting at her Counselor's desk at the Friendship School, tending to her plant, Phyllis... Starlight and Trixie sharing a malted-milk at the counter in Pony Joe's... and finally Starlight and Sunburst standing together at the doorway of the School of Friendship, ready to welcome their first students as the school's Headmare and Vice-Headmare.
Twilight found herself compulsively smiling, and on the verge of tears, staring at the images. These were her friends, who had asked her to host and perform their wedding. They hadn't asked the Princess of Equestria... they'd asked her, Twilight Sparkle. And she was not going to let them down.
Twilight looked up and around, momentarily stymied for words to express just how she felt.
And then noticed Tempest Shadow, silently prompting her:
Since I was crowned...
"Since I was crowned ruler of Equestria," Twilight said, gratefully, "I've looked forward eagerly to this opportunity to play such an important role in two ponies' lives. And I can't think of any two ponies more deserving, nor more perfect for each other. Starlight Glimmer has been an excellent student, assistant, counselor, and now Headmare of the School of Friendship. And her co-head, Sunburst, is himself an accomplished mage, royal Crystaller, and diligent scholar. I know that together, they have a long and happy life ahead of them."
Twilight shook her head, amazed at how easily the words flowed. "You know, I've sometimes wondered what it would be like, to be standing up here, facing a future of untold possibilities, great challenges, great successes -- and yes, some trials and heartbreaks along the way. And knowing that there's a pony I trust and care about nearby, ready and willing to share in the adventure with me. To help build a life together, come what may."
Twilight glanced from Sunburst to Starlight and back again, as warmly and encouragingly as she possibly could.
And then she happened to glance over at Tempest... and paused.
There was a expression on Tempest's face that Twilight had seen only once before... on the balcony of the Palace, when Twilight had caught Tempest's hoof and saved her from being whirled away by the raging storm. A look that lacked even a hint of Tempest's usual arch, aloof reserve. It was a look of total openness, all defenses down, all barriers removed.
It was a look straight into her very soul.
Twilight found that she herself was looking back at Tempest in much the same way, with total honesty. She cleared her throat, and then grinned nervously.
"I just never dreamed," she went on to the audience, "that I'd be experiencing it from this point of view, as the celebrant!"
As the audience laughed politely, Twilight glanced around quickly, making sure everypony and everything was in place. "And now," she went on, "I think we should proceed with the vows..."
She summoned Trixie forward, and the showpony produced the horn-rings out of her hat with her usual aplomb, but a noticeable lack of flamboyance. Trixie was tight-lipped in fact, fiercely restrained, her eyes glistening.
"Do you, Sunburst," Twilight said, "take Starlight Glimmer to be your lawfully-wedded mare..." She proceeded steadily through the vow, keeping it simple and to the point.
And as Sunburst quietly whispered a solemn "I do", Twilight glanced over at Tempest. And saw her silently echoing the words:
I do.
"And do you, Starlight," Twilight continued, "take Sunburst to be your lawfully-wedded stallion..." She completed the vow, and then as Starlight whispered her own quiet "I do", Twilight glanced at Tempest...
... and, impulsively, silently echoed it herself.
I do.
Twilight looked around at the audience. No one had noticed, they were all too focused on the bride and groom. And the guards were too busy looking around for trouble -- Tempest had trained them well. "Should there be anyone," Twilight said aloud, "who can show just cause why this union should not be performed, let them speak now..."
There was a sudden, loud trumpet-blast close by. Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst all looked at Trixie, who looked up at them, red-eyed and embarrassed, from the hoofkerchief she'd blown into. "Sorry," she whispered, utterly mortified. "Hay fever. And really, really, bad timing!"
Starlight smiled and winked reassuringly at Trixie.
Smiling herself, Twilight concluded: "... or forever hold their peace!"
There was no objection, so Twilight nodded. "Then Starlight, and Sunburst, it is my very great privilege and pleasure to declare you mare and stallion."
The couple kissed, and a cheer rose up from the assembled audience.
Then Tempest stepped forward from her place amongst the guards, glanced at Twilight for permission, then looked to Trixie to make sure the magician was ready as well.
Trixie flung her hooves wide, launching a volley of spellcast fireworks into the air above the crowd. And Tempest, charging her horn, added her own display, filling the skies over the Royal Gardens with blazing chrysanthemums of electric fire. The two of them kept it up, wave after wave of colorful detonations, until their reserves were running dry. And then they reluctantly came to a halt, to the applause and cheering of the crowd. Not the least of which was coming from the newlyweds themselves.
Relieved, Twilight looked over at Tempest, and smiled thankfully.
And saw Tempest quietly smiling back in return.
"I'm so sorry I have to rush off so soon," Twilight said. "But I've left Spike holding down the fort, and I've put off that conference with the Griffon and Zebra ambassadors too long as it is."
"We understand, Twilight, totally," said Starlight. She was still smiling a little glassily, as if the ceremony's completion was only just sinking in for her.
"And we're truly grateful," Sunburst added. "You were able to take time from everything else, just for us. It means so much to both of us." He was holding Starlight closely, grinning just a little hectically, clearly as dazed and excited as she was.
"I wouldn't have missed it, you two!" Twilight said. "My very first wedding as Princess! First of many, I hope. And I'm so glad it was you, it was just so appropriate. And even though it was my first, I think I did all right by you."
"More than all right, Twilight," Starlight assured her. "It was perfect! Thanks so much!"
Reluctantly, Twilight gave the happy couple her best wishes, said her farewells, and then trotted over to climb into the open-topped carriage waiting on the sandy path nearby. Commander Tempest was already standing beside it, and she nodded subserviently as Twilight boarded.
"Thank you, Commander," Twilight said, primly.
Then she climbed up onto the seat and hooked her hooves over the side, to look Tempest square in the eye.
"You know..." she said quietly, "depending how seriously anyone took it, somepony else got married today."
Tempest gazed back at her, completely unruffled. "Don't be ridiculous, Your Highness," she said. "We haven't even been on a date yet." Snorting in amusement, the Commander trotted forward to take charge of the guard procession.
And Twilight smiled too, watching her go.
Then she felt a gentle tug at the train of her gown. Turning, she found Grubber had climbed into the carriage from the other side. "Uh, s'cuse me, Your Highness?"
"Oh, hey, Grubber! What's up?"
"Here... the boss said to give this to you. You know, afterwards."
Twilight stared at the foil-wrapped, beribboned box the hedgehog was holding out. "But... wasn't that a present for Starlight and Sunburst?"
"Nope, Tempest said it was for you."
"For me?" Twilight examined the box. It looked like... "A box of chocolates?" she asked. "Why would Tempest be giving me a box of chocolates?"
Grubber shrugged. "Search me. She just said to make sure you opened it right after the ceremony. I dunno, maybe she figured after all that talkin' you'd want a snack. I know I would!"
Puzzled, Twilight took the box in her magic, gently undid the ribbons and carefully pulled it open... and found something even better inside. "A book!" Twilight gasped, lifting it out. "Now that makes a lot more sense as a present. Except... wait a minute..."
She stared. It wasn't just any book... it was her notebook for the ceremony, with all its various multicolored sticky-tabs still in place.
"But... I don't get it," Twilight whispered. "The book was in my carryall, which was proofed against teleportation. The box was on the gifts table. How the hay did she..."
And then she looked up, to see Commander Tempest exchanging a nod and wink with Trixie. The two of them looked in Twilight's direction, and Trixie grinned, pumping her hooves in the air like a prize-fighter. And Tempest...
She just smiled. Proudly, imperturbably, as usual.
Twilight smiled in return, shaking her head in exasperation.
"You are devious, Tempest Shadow," she whispered to herself, "ruthless, unpredictable, and downright manipulative..."
She fell silent. And went on, in the privacy of her thoughts:
... and I love you dearly for it -- don't ever change!
The End
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, its characters and indicia are the property of Hasbro.
No infringement is intended. This story is a work of fan fiction, written by fans for fans of the series.
Author's Note
After all the stories about various ships getting married, I thought it might be fun to look at things from the celebrant's point of view. Particularly if, like Princess Twilight, she's as new to the whole thing as the happy couple themselves...
A tip of the keyboard to SamSwordsman123's story, SunnyStar Wedding, which presents the wedding from Sunburst and Starlight's point of view.
