It had been an amazing evening in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie always pulled out all the stops for farewell parties, and it somehow fit Lyra and Bon Bon perfectly while still being very distinct from the wedding reception Pinkie had also planned for them just two moons earlier. It was nice to see all of their friends together again, and Lyra had to keep reminding herself that it was not the last time they ever would. Canterlot was just a long carriage ride away, after all.

Lyra smiled as she thought back to them. Derpy and Maud and Carrot Top and Noteworthy and Octavia and Vinyl and so many more. Even Cherry Berry had shown up, though she had drunk way too much of the punch as always, so neither Lyra nor Bon Bon could make much out of that tearful speech she had given them. But Lyra was relieved that their friendship hadn’t been totally destroyed by the awkwardness of the wedding after all.

But they were definitely living here now, in their chambers in the remnant of Canterlot Castle. The furniture that had perfectly fit their cozy little apartment above Bon Bon’s candy shop in Ponyville looked very out of place against the Late-Celestian Regal architecture and fixtures, but Lyra had insisted that it was necessary to bring them in order to make her feel as if she had moved in instead of being just a visitor.

Of course, in the end, there was only one thing that Lyra really needed to bring in order to make any place feel like home.

Lyra reached up to squeeze the sides of Bon Bon’s face with her hooves, leaning the weight of her unbalanced body into planting a deep kiss on the Earth pony, who had to steel her legs in order to not buckle from it.

“What was that?” Bon Bon asked, as she recovered.

“Oh, just kissing my wife.” Lyra smiled.

“Wife and harem sister.” Bon Bon smiled back. Lyra had to begrudgingly admit, the quasi-incestuous appellation did give her a frisson of excitement whenever she heard it. In contrast, Bon Bon was pleased beyond words at being able to say that sentence. As if she had everything she ever wanted or could want at this point.

That made Lyra very happy.

“Stand there for a moment,” Lyra said. Bon Bon did so as Lyra walked a bit past her and stopped, so that they were no longer face-to-face but flank-to-flank. She turned her head to look at their cutie marks next to each other.

A harp and three candies. Both encircled by a golden ring, each topped with Celestia’s sun motif. She could easily convince herself that it was nothing more than the perfect pair of wedding rings. Unlike the ones sitting in their drawer, these were permanently on their bodies. How many couples in Equestria could say that? Only one. In a way, wasn’t this just a symbol of the specialness and strength of their marriage? In a way, wasn’t this whole crazy thing with Celestia just another life change that they were facing together, as loving wife and wife?

But she could not deny that things were different now. The sheets on the bed were crisp and barely touched. This despite Lyra’s allergy to doing her share of the bed-making, which Bon Bon had suffered through their past several years together. They hardly slept in it now, and on the few nights they did, what was once such a constant source of warmth and fullness somehow felt so cold and empty.

They were used to sleeping in a particular way now. Faces nestled on either side of Celestia’s neck. Hooves held across the middle of Her body. Sides cradled by Her soft wings. Bodies warmed by the afterglow of Her gift. It felt so natural. As if they were always meant to be holding a third body between them. One that could caress their faces. Massage their necks. Grope their flanks.

“Just what are you thinking about, honey?” Bon Bon asked, curious. Lyra snapped out of it.

“Oh, just wondering about things,” she said truthfully. “About what the Goddess told us earlier.”

“Yeah,” Bon Bon smiled in understanding. “We’re going to execute missions for her soon. Isn’t it exciting?”

“Yeah, it is,” Lyra admitted. It was funny to her how Bon Bon so naturally slipped back into using the language from her Agency days. In the early days of their relationship, Lyra had sometimes daydreamed foalishly of what would happen were the Agency to be a factor in their lives again, and how she would navigate being the marefriend of a secret agent of the Equestrian intelligence services. But Bon Bon had always assured her both that it would never happen and that it was much less exciting than it had sounded.

But Lyra was now privy to an actual state secret. One that painted a very different picture of the world from the one she had developed growing up in the circles of the Equestrian elite, who were under the false impression that they were the ones who really ran Equestria. And with these missions, she would finally find out the true workings of this Alicorn-ruled world they lived in. Its true past.

Lyra smiled at the irony.

She was truly excited. It was surprising how much she had changed from before, when she had been looking forward to settling down into a nice, long, boring life with her Bonnie in a quiet farming village, away from all this nonsense of royalty and aristocracy.

She did not know how the future and what she learned on these missions would change her further.

Lyra only knew two things.

She loved her wife.

And she loved her Goddess.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading, everyone! I do put a lot of time and try to cram in a lot of neat ideas and references in what I write, so I am thankful for every eyeball that graces these pages. If you do pick up on any of those things, especially the academic allusions, please leave a comment or drop me a line. It would really keep me going to know that there were those out there who were picking up what I was putting down.

The sequel, Alicorn Biology: Princess Luna is in the works, and I have the main ideas and themes for Alicorn Biology: Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Alicorn Biology: Princess Twilight Sparkle. I plan to finish them by December, January, and February, respectively. Hope to see all of you there!