The morning after visiting Fleur and Fancy’s late parents, the group got together to watch the other movie Ace brought. They were quite interested in seeing how it wrapped up the first one, especially Princess Celestia. They sat by the couch, Ozzy in the middle with Fleur on the right and Shiny on his left, Fancy Pants was in the middle of his sister and the princess with Ace on the far right of the couch, and Shimmer Dress was next to Shiny with Jude next to her on the far left. The movie, while three hours long, didn’t let go of the group’s attention for a second until the second the end credits appeared.

“Wow, now that was a great movie,” Shimmer Dress said.

“You can say that again,” Jude said as he put his arm around Shimmer’s shoulders.

“But I’m a little confused,” Shiny said. “How can that big purple guy get killed in the future if he dies in the past?”

“Time travel can be rather confusing,” Ace answered. “While the movie doesn’t directly answer it, it does provide clues. Such as the stones, which means the captain could correct and undo all that got tampered with as he put the stones back.”

“That does sound quite possible,” Fancy said with the others agreeing.

“Kind of wish the movie explained something like that,” Fleur said. “But I suppose in all fairness it’s already a three hour movie.”

“Well whatever problems the rest of you may have, I really enjoyed this movie,” Princess Celestia said.

“I feel the same,” Ozzy said. “It wrapped up everyone’s arcs while giving them all a perfect sendoff or a new path to go down. It’s a perfect ending.”

“No,” Ace replied. “It’s a perfect beginning.”

“Well anyway,” Jude said as he stood up and stretched a bit. “It’s almost lunch time, I’m gonna get something to eat.” Jude then made his way to the kitchen and the others looked at the clock rather shocked to see that Jude was right.

“I guess we shouldn’t be all that surprised,” Ozzy said and before long the others got something to eat as well.”

“Fleur, Fancy?”

“Yes Princess Celestia?” They asked at the same time.
“This is the last day I can stay here, being royalty can be quite tiring. Honestly it’s quite relieving to have this much time to relax. So is there anything else fun to do that we haven’t already done?”

“Well,” Fleur paused. “We could play a game of poker.”

“I guess that could be fun,” Princess Celestia said, eager to try something new. Fleur a deck of cards and set the table so they could play. As Fleur prepared the table the others decided to play with them as well.

“Can you even play poker with this many people or ponies?” Ozzy asked.

“The ideal number of players is six, seven, or eight for most forms of the game,” Ace answered.

“Well that’s perfect,” Jude said. “There are eight of us.”

“Actually I think I’ll just watch,” Ozzy said. “I never really learned how to play.”

“And I’ve been beaten enough by a certain detective lawyer,” Shiny said as she looked over at Ace.

“Oh come on,” Fleur as she grabbed Shiny and Ozzy by their arms with hers pulling them in like they were the bread of a sandwich. “Please, it’ll be fun. And who knows you might just beat him this time.”

“Not likely,” Ace replied.

“All right,” Ozzy replied as he and Shiny decided to join. But before long, the only ones holding their ground were Ace and Princess Celestia.

“Wow Princess Celestia, you’re doing really well,” Jude said.

“Literal centuries of practice,” Princess Celestia replied.

“And you’re pretty good too Ace,” Jude said as he walked over to where he was sitting.

“I’m rather experienced as well,” he replied. Jude stopped walking when he was right behind Ace who placed his cards down as he noticed Jude was getting rather close.

“You know Ace, that is a really nice suit you have,” Jude said as he got closer.

“Thank you.”

“Is that silk or some kind of cotton? Can I feel it?” Jude then got even closer putting his head right on his left shoulder. But before he could see what cards Ace had, Ace elbowed him right in the gut causing him to fall down and shock the others.

“That’ll teach you to cheat,” Ace said. Ozzy went over to help Jude up who placed his hand on the spot of his stomach Ace hit.

“You were right, he’s stronger than he looks,” Jude said as Ozzy helped him to the couch.

“I don’t approve of what he was trying to do. But that was rather harsh don’t you think?” Princess Celestia asked.

“I don’t like cheaters.”

“I want to be mad, but I gotta side with Ace on this,” Shimmer Dress said.

“Thank you,” Ace said with a bit more emotion than usual.

“But that doesn’t mean we aren’t gonna try to beat you with these hands of ours,” Shimmer replied.

“You’re welcome to try,” Ace replied.

“Aren’t we confident?” Fleur said.

“I think the word is arrogant,” Shiny commented.

“Deja vu,” Princess Celestia added as Shimmer Dress put in the last of her chips.

“Call,” Ace said as he put down a hand that Shimmer’s couldn’t even come close to rivalring.

“Damn it!” Shimmer Dress said as she put her hands over her face. “How did you know I was bluffing?”

“I’m a lawyer, people lie to me every day,” Ace answered, which Princess Celestia couldn’t help but laugh at.

“Oh Ace, you’re so funny.”

“So I’ve been told.” Before long she and Ace were the only ones left in the game and they were setting up the last hand.

But there was just one problem.

“It appears that you don’t have enough poker chips to cover the bet,” Ace said.

“Oh come on, there’s got to be something I can do to cover the rest of the chips.”

“Such as?” Ace asked rather curiously.

“Well,” Princess Celestia paused while she looked to her right for no apparent reason before looking back at Ace. “Being royalty, I do have access to various resources. Perhaps there might be something that you want that I can get you.” Hearing that Ace paused while maintaining eye contact.

“Well,” Ace said. “I’ve always wanted to kiss a princess.” His answer made Princess Celestia blush a bit.

“You can’t be serious!” Shiny said.

“Quite,” Ace answered.

“You honestly think one of the leaders of our country would agree to something so utterly-”

“All right,” Princess Celestia answered, interrupting Shiny and shocking her as well as the others in the process. “But you have to win first. And spoiler alert, you won’t.”

“Now who's arrogant. What do you have?”

“Royal flush,” Princess Celestia answered as she placed her cards on the table. As she said, it was a royal flush of hearts.

“Wow,” Ozzy said as he put his hands on the princess’s shoulders. “No wonder you were so confident, even I know that’s the best hand in the game.”

“Correction, it’s the second,” Ace said as he did something he rarely does.

He smiled.

“Royal flush, spades over hearts,” Ace said before putting his cards on the table.

“Wait two royal flushes?” Jude asked. “How does that work?”

“A royal flush is a collection of five cards in the same suit, but since there are four suits, there are four royal flushes. Each with a different rank, mine being the strongest.”

“Wow, what are the odds?” Princess Celestia asked. “Nice work Ace, you won.”

“So you know what that means,” Ace said.

“Hold on Ace,” Ozzy said as he let go of the princess’s shoulders and got between her and Ace who were still sitting. “Ace you can’t actually expect the princess to go through with what you asked.”

“No Ozzy,” Princess Celestia said as she stood and this time, she put her hands on Ozzy’s shoulders. “It’s all right. A bet is a bet after all, but thank you for trying to defend me.”

Ozzy then stepped aside and Princess Celestia, being a rather tall mare, had to get on her knees to get closer to Ace’s level. Ace then stood up and Princess Celestia put her lips out, awaiting Ace to give what she promised him.

“Oh my gosh this is actually happening,” Shiny said as she almost looked away. Just as she was about to Ace placed a hand on Princess Celestia’s right shoulder and pulled her head a little closer before kissing her left cheek.

“Thank you,” Ace said before letting go of the princess. “I’ll be outside if anyone or anypony needs me.” Ace then made his way outside to sit by the lake.

“Humans, such strange creatures,” Princess Celestia said with her hand resting where Ace kissed her. “No offense Ozzy.”

“None taken your majesty,” Ozzy replied with a humble smile.

“Shining Star, Fleur De Lis. Would you mind if I talked to Ozzy in private for a moment?”

“Um, all right,” Fleur said, not quite sure what she wanted but didn’t want to argue with Princess Celestia. She and Shiny made their way upstairs and Princess Celestia sat down in the same chair for the poker game and patted the one next to it. Gesturing Ozzy to sit there, so he did.

“Uh, am I in trouble?” Ozzy asked, causing Princess Celestia to laugh a bit.

“Of course you aren’t Ozzy. I just want to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s about,” Princess Celestia paused as she was a bit choked up. “Well Ozzy you are a rather attractive “stallion” so to speak-”

“Ah geez! You aren’t gonna come on to me are you? What is it with me? When I was on Earth it seemed no woman would pay attention to me, but now all of a sudden it’s like I’m a mare magnet,” Ozzy said as he thought about not only Shiny and Fleur, but Shimmer Dress, that one mare from the party, the spa mares, Grapevine, and even to a certain degree Mascara.

“What no of course not Ozzy,” Princess Celestia answered as she waved her hands a bit. “It’s nothing like that. I mean not to say you aren’t attractive, but, I’m sorry. This subject is rather difficult for me, I should probably just get to the point. When you started a relationship with those mares, were there doubts?”

“Well, yes. Kind of a lot, but deep down we knew that we loved each other and we couldn’t keep hiding that from one another for any of our sakes. When I thought about the idea of dating Fleur, I thought how she was out of my league.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she was from a noble family and a supermodel, what could I have offered her? But I eventually realized that none of those things mattered. When I started dating her as well as Shiny all that fear and anxiety melted away and I’ve never been happier. Their love makes me want to be better, and I’d like to think they feel the same.”

“I don’t know much about your love life, Ozzy Shore, but something tells me that they do,” Princess Celestia said as she gently put her hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you princess,” Ozzy said with a warm smile.

“Your welcome,” Princess Celestia replied with a warm smile of her own.

“So what exactly are you trying to ask?” Ozzy asked.

“A lot actually,” Princess Celestia said while looking away for a moment. She then looked back to Ozzy as she pushed some of her mane behind her head with her hand. “But as I said before, this is a rather difficult subject for me.” Princess Celestia then placed both hands on her lap and breathed rather heavily.

“Maybe you should talk to Ace then,” Ozzy said which rather surprised the princess. “I haven’t known Ace for a long time, but he’s really good with advice. He really helped me when I was in a serious emotional spot, maybe he can do the same for you.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea, thank you Ozzy. And thanks for the talk, you helped more than you think.”

“Glad I could,” Ozzy replied. After that Princess Celestia made her way outside and saw Ace sitting by the lake, his shoes and socks off to the side with his pants rolled up.

“What are you doing Ace?” Princess Celestia asked as she was standing next to him rather bent down.

“Nothing,” he replied.

“May I join you?”

“By all means.” Princess Celestia then pulled up her dress and placed her legs in the water before sitting down next to Ace. There was a moment of silence as she was trying to think of the right way to start the conversation she wanted to start. But Ace would be the one to break the silence first. “Gum?”

***

The day was drawing to an end and the group would soon settle down for the night. However one in particular had a lot on his mind and had decided to do something about it. Ozzy after stretching his legs returned to the cabin and found Shimmer Dress sitting on a chair with Jude down on one knee holding a small box.

Oh my gosh is this really happening? Ozzy thought before looking at the others and saw the faces of Fancy, Fleur, and especially Shiny and could tell they were thinking the same thing. Princess Celestia was only a little surprised and Ace was as stoic as usual.

“Shimmer Dress, I know it’s only been brief but the time we’ve had, has been nothing short of magical. I never want it to end, it shouldn’t end.” Jude then raised the small box making Shimmer Dress put her hands to her chest. “Shimmer Dress, will you marry me?” Suddenly Shimmer Dress reached down hugging Jude as tight as she could.

“YES YES! A THOUSAND TIMES YES!”

“When do you want to get married?” Jude asked as he helped Shimmer Dress stand up.

“Right now,” Shimmer Dress answered to the shock of the others, even Ace. Shimmer Dress then made her way over to Princess Celestia. “Princess Celestia, you can marry ponies. Or in this case ponies and humans.”

“Well, that’s true. But wouldn’t you want to take your time to plan it out. Or invite others that would want to be part of this, like your parents.”

“I can always invite them when we redo our wedding, but I doubt I can get you to come. Please,” Shimmer Dress started to beg and then suddenly hugged the princess, surprising her. “I’ve always wanted you to marry me and my future husband and that can happen. Please please please,” Shimmer said as she looked up with a huge smile.

“How can I possibly say no?” Princess Celestia answered.

The group got to work right away with the wedding. Fleur and Shiny found a plain yet beautiful sundress and Ace let Jude borrow his suit as they were the same size, more or less. Ozzy and Fancy Pants brought a long brownish red carpet from the cabin to use as the garter toss. Fleur and Shiny tossed some flower petals as they were the flower girls and the bridesmaids. Ozzy was the best man while Fancy escorted Shimmer to the princess while Ace cooked a small yet delicious wedding cake.

“Dearly beloved,” Princess Celestia said. “We are here to join these two in holy matrimony. While not long, the time they have had has truly been special to them. Their bond is truly special because it was made by love. What we see here today is an example of just how strong love is, for it can even connect beyond dimensions. May we have the rings please.” Ozzy then gave the rings Jude bought and handed them over to him and Shimmer Dress. “I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride.”

“Oh I plan to do a lot more than that,” Jude said before he and Shimmer Dress kissed as Princess Celestia made the sun set.

“Rather fitting getting married at sunset don’t you think?” Ace asked.

“How so?” Princess Celestia asked.

“It’s symbolic, one chapter ends, another begins.”

“That makes sense,” Princess Celestia replied. “I’m really glad that I met you Ace. I’d like to be able to call you a friend.”

“I’d like that too.” Ace then got out a business card and then gave it to Princess Celestia who accepted it. “Here, in case you ever need a detective lawyer.”

“Thank you.” After the wedding Jude and Shimmer Dress talked about trying to combine their businesses somehow and Shiny helped Ozzy put the carpet back into the cottage.

“This little vacation has really turned into something hasn’t it?” Shiny asked.

“Yeah,” Ozzy replied as they put the carpet back and then surprised Shiny with a kiss on the lips which she returned.

“What was that for?”

“Nothing, just wanted to kiss my sexy princess.”

“Easy now,” Shiny said as she lightly pushed Ozzy back. “We’re gonna have to go back to work soon, and with Fleur on the fall line up for Vogue. We’re going to be busier than ever. So I need you to focus, I am still your boss after all.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ozzy said with a salute that made Shiny laugh. “But I’m sure that plenty of fun times are still ahead. As long as I’m with you and Fleur, I know that.”

“Oh Ozzy,” Shiny said as she pulled Ozzy into a hug. Elsewhere Fleur sat down by the lake with her brother Fancy.

“I heard that you finally got into Vogue,” Fancy Pants said. “I’m so proud of you,” Fancy added as he kissed the top of her head.

“Thank you Fancy,” Fleur said.

“You really inspired me,” Fancy said.

“Really?” Fleur asked, rather shocked.

“Yes, you try so hard to make such a difference, I’m going to start trying to do the same thing.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I’m not quite sure just yet, but I’m going to find a way. Maybe after all this, you can drop by real quick and help me figure that out.”

“I think that’s a great idea.” Fleur then rested on Fancy’s shoulder and Fancy wrapped his arm around his sister and as they looked up at the sky and saw the stars were starting to shine through.

***

Ozzy, with a bouquet of flowers that Fleur made with Fancy after they finished resting by the lake, made his way to the grave of their parents.

“Hello there Mr. and Mrs. De Lis, or is it Pants I never quite got that? I wanted to talk to you the other day, but I didn’t really want to overstep the others, and perhaps I wanted to say this to you all on my own.” Ozzy took a deep breath before continuing. “When I first came here I had no idea of what I was going to go through, the adventures I’d had, the ponies I’d met, and the love we would share with each other. I love your daughter with all my heart, and I promise both of you that I’m going to watch out, take care, and love Fleur for the rest of my life.”

Ozzy felt the same about Shining Star as well, but felt that didn’t need to be said to Fleur’s parents, as Ozzy finished both Shiny and Fleur who did not hear what Ozzy had promised, managed to catch up to him.

“You’re pretty fast aren’t you Ozzy?” Shiny asked. “You went ahead of us only a few seconds and it took us quite a while to catch up to you.”

“Maybe it was because of all those workouts you helped me with Shiny,” Ozzy said, recalling a bit of him and Shiny training in the gym.

“I suppose,” Shiny said. She and Fleur then sat down next to the grave as well.

“I’ll keep this quick mom and dad, mostly because we need to get to bed soon so we can get up early enough to catch the train back to Canterlot. This might not make much sense, but to me, it feels like a big and rather long chapter of our lives has ended.”

“Yeah,” Shiny agreed. “Which means that a brand new one is about to begin. I hope you’ll be watching over not just Fleur, but all of us.” After that Shiny, Ozzy, and Fleur made their way back to the others. Including a new member that recently showed up, Twilight Sparkle, the former personal student of Princess Celestia who was now a fellow princess. She had arrived with a small escort group of guards to take her former teacher back to her castle, after sending a letter asking them to come

“Thank you for inviting me here Princess Celestia.”

“Twilight, haven't you known me well enough to just call me Celestia?”

“Sorry, force of habit.”

“It’s all right, and you're welcome. That’s what friends are for.”

“Speaking of which,” Twilight said. “I’ve been thinking, maybe I should open a school of friendship.”

“I think that would be a wonderful idea Twilight,” Princess Celestia said as she placed her hands on Twilight’s shoulders.

As they finished Ozzy, Shiny, and Fleur joined the others as they all stood by the edge of the lake. They were all looking up to the stars that would light up a path to their futures and the adventures that would come with them.

The End

Author's Note

Here we are fianlly at the end of this story. Special thanks to Dudeler for giving me the storylines of the last few chapters and special thanks to The Curators Compindium for proofreading the chapters. Also the open ending for the story was Dudeler's idea and I really like the idea.

For any unanswered questions you might have like what did Ace and Princess Celestia talk about, that will eventually be answered in his spin off fanfic The Detective and the Changeling. Another idea by Dudeler he said I could use. I have a few other projects to get to before that though, so until then this is the Pioneer of Imagination signing off.