After the Ceremony

"Get out of my way! Let me kill him! Let me end him!" Luna screamed, her horn glowing nearly white hot as she tried to get around Celestia.

"Luna! Calm down this instant! What happened out there was not Anon's fault! It was mine!" Celestia shouted back.

As the taller alicorn struggled to hold her sister back, Anon continued to sway back and forth in the throne room, his eyes closed as he hummed a song to himself, completely unaware of the struggle happening just a few feet away. Javelin and Raven stood beside Anon, both trying to get him to focus on the situation at hand.

"Anonymous, will you please stop humming and pay attention!" Raven exclaimed, frantically looking back and forth between Luna and the drunk human.

"Hehe, angry blue pone go brrrrrrrr." Anon mumbled, chuckling to himself.

"I'll rip his head off!" Luna shouted.

"Luna, that's enough!" Celestia screamed, her horn igniting in a golden light.

A bubble immediately formed around Luna, effectively locking her in place. She continued to scream and pound on the inside of the magic bubble, but the only sound that escaped came out muffled, and dampened. Celestia breathed a small sigh of relief before turning to Anon, Javelin, and Raven.

"Alright... now that I can actually speak at a normal volume, let's deal with this situation. Sergeant Javelin, could you please lead Anonymous to his room? Make sure he lies down and sleeps this off." Celestia said, her voice slightly hoarse from the previous shouting.

Javelin snapped to a salute, "Of course, Princess."

The guardspony quickly grabbed Anon's hand with his magic and led him toward the doorway.

"Woah... where are we going?" Anon managed to ask as he stared, dumbstruck at Javelin's magic aura on his hand.

"We're taking you back to your room, sir. You need to lay down and rest." Javelin professionally responded.

"D-didn't I... didn't I tell you to call me Anom?" Anon asked, following Javelin out the door.

"Of course, Anon. My mistake." Javelin responded as the pair exited.

Once they were out of sight, Celestia sighed heavily and fell to her haunches. Raven immediately rushed to her side.

"Princess! Are you okay!?" She asked, her muzzle scrunched up in concern.

"I am fine, Raven. Just exhausted after everything that's happened today. I had no idea that the rhineroot would affect him so much. He was completely intoxicated within a matter of minutes." Celestia shook her head.

"It's my fault, Princess. I should have made sure he didn't drink too much of it. I was just... distracted for a moment and suddenly, he drank the entire mug." Raven shook her head, her eyes glued to the floor in shame.

Celestia chuckled, "Well, hopefully we won't make the same mistakes again," She replied, before turning around to look at Luna, "If I let you out of that bubble, will you calm yourself?"

Luna sat on her haunches and crossed her forelegs. She pouted angrily as Celestia furrowed her brow at her. Eventually, the lunar alicorn rolled her eyes and nodded. Celestia smiled weakly before dropping the spell.

"About time, sister." Luna bitterly asserted.

Now it was Celestia's turn to roll her eyes, "Don't give me that. You know good and well that you're acting like a child."

Luna's wings flared out defensively, "I-We were not! That... that man-beast assaulted us in front of a crowd of hundreds!" She exclaimed.

"Firstly, what Anon did was entirely my fault, not his. I did not know that the rhineroot would make him completely drunk within a single cup of tea. Secondly, you're an immortal alicorn who can move a celestial body. All Anon did was kiss you, not hit you. Stop overreacting." Celestia shot back.

Luna recoiled, "W-we were not referring to a physical assault... We were... We were not ready for him to... kiss us that deeply." She admitted, a dark blush forming on her cheeks.

Celestia's harsh gaze softened, and she sighed quietly, "Neither was I. It would seem that, in his inebriated state, Anonymous can be quite forward. I wouldn't have expected it from him. Perhaps a mare, but not a stallion." She shook her head.

"Well... if I might add some input, Princess," Raven spoke up, directing both alicorns attention to herself, "Anonymous is a different species. Even though he's a stallion, his kind might not act the same as ponies when it comes to displays of affection. Also he was incredibly drunk, I'm honestly surprised he could stand at all, let alone prench you both in front of a crowd." She explained.

"Miss Inkwell brings up a valid point. Anonymous may be a stallion, but he's no stallion we've ever seen before. I've never seen one act so forcefully when drunk. Every stallion I've ever seen that intoxicated became a sobbing mess of emotions, or incredibly submissive." Celestia admitted.

"Are you still sure that he was the right choice, sister?" Luna questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"He's promised to keep our relationship a secret. Aside from the spectacle we surely caused today, I think the first day went rather well. Anonymous didn't go running his mouth to every pony he saw out there... that's more than I could say for every other stallion that wanted to be in his place today." Celestia shook her head.

"For what it's worth, Princess, the ponies seemed to take what happened rather well. Anonymous kissing you and Princess Luna so aggressively really sold the thought that you both actually love him.

"Yes, well... as long as there isn't any actual damage to our reputation, I suppose things went better than expected." Luna responded, her muzzle scrunched in thought.

"I only hope that my decision to give him the rhineroot has not affected his willingness to keep his promise." Celestia continued, biting her lip in concern.

"If he knows what is good for him, he will keep good to his word." Luna said, a scowl forming on her face.

"Regardless, we will have to speak of this more at dinner. I need to get out of this dress and into my regalia. The sun will have to go down within the next six hours. Raven, could you go check up on Anonymous around that time and see if he'll be joining us?" Celestia asked, standing up to her full height.

"Of course, Princess." Raven replied, hastily making her way out the door.

"I suppose I will see you at dinner then, Tia." Luna said, turning toward her own bedroom.

"Of course. Thank you for being reasonable, Lulu. I know today was hard, but we can put it behind us now." Celestia kindly replied.

"I hope so." Luna whispered.

Anon was roused from his nap by a light knocking on his door. He groaned as he rolled out of bed and got to his feet. Once glance out the window told him that the sun was setting, and he rubbed some sleepiness out of his eyes before making his way over to the door and opening it to reveal Raven.

"Anonymous. Glad to see you're not drunk anymore." Raven smiled.

Anon rubbed his temples, "Yeah... what the hell was in that drink you gave me? Were you trying to get me wasted before the ceremony?" He asked.

Raven immediately blanched at the assertion, "W-what? Of course not! Princess Celestia thought that a cup of tea with the rhineroot would help you relax and calm your nerves before the ceremony. None of us knew that it would affect you so much." She defended.

Anon winced at her increased volume, "Alright, alright. I guess I get what you were trying to do... but why didn't you just tell me what was in the drink? I've got a killer headache now. Feels like I'm hungover but it's only been a few hours."

Raven deflated and sighed, "I... apologize for that, Anonymous. I believed that it would be easier if you didn't know. We didn't have much time to get you ready for the ceremony and I thought that if you knew what was in the drink, you wouldn't want to drink it." She admitted.

Anon pinched the bridge of his nose, "You... do realize that only makes it sound so much worse, right?" He asked.

Raven's eyes drifted to the floor,"I... I know. I'm so sorry, sir." She apologized.

Anon watched her for a few moments before sighing heavily, "Well... don't do that shit again. I don't like the idea of getting drugged every time I accept a drink from you."

"Of course, sir. I promise that it'll never happen again. You have my word." Raven replied with a small bow.

Anon nodded before leaning out of the doorway and glancing down the hallway, noticing the pair of guardsmares stationed outside his doorway, "So what are you here for? Just to see if I'm not dead?"

"N-no! I mean, of course I wanted to make sure you were alright, but... I was also asked to see if you were going to be attending dinner." Raven hastily responded, her eyes wide in alarm.

Anon licked his lips, "Food does sound pretty good right now. I didn't eat much today. I don't trust you anymore... but I'll go to dinner." He answered.

Raven frowned as her eyes drifted to the floor, "I... I understand, sir. I'm so sorry. I'll do whatever I can to make this right." She dejectedly responded as she hung her head low.

Anon stared down at the pony for almost a minute before sighing and shaking his head. "God dammit. Stop doing that, come on. I can't stay mad at you ponies when you look so sad."

Raven looked up at him with a bewildered look on her face, "W-what?"

Anon leaned against the doorway, "I'll... consider forgiving you. Just don't start the puppy dog eyes routine. I swear, you ponies always make me feel bad when you look sad."

"I... I'm not sure how to feel about that." Raven tilted her head to the side.

"You don't need to feel anything about it. Come on, let's just go to dinner. I'm starving." Anon shook his head as his stomach growled.

Raven perked up considerably and stepped out of the way as Anon exited his bedroom, "The dining room is this way. I'll take you there."

"Thanks." Anon replied.

Raven smiled before turning and leading Anon down the hallway toward the dining room. The guards quickly followed them as the pair passed through several hallways and arrived at the throne room. Anon gave Javelin a small wave as he arrived at the massive doorway on the far side of the room. Javelin returned the wave with an almost imperceptible nod as Raven ushered Anon inside.

Once Anon stepped into the dining room, he saw Celestia and Luna already sitting at the dinner table in their respective chairs, as well as several other guards standing around the room. Celestia immediately turned her attention to Anon and Raven as they approached the table.

"Anonymous, Raven. It's good to see you on your hooves." Celestia greeted, a friendly smile on her face.

"Feet." Anon corrected.

"Pardon?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.

"I don't have hooves. I have feet." Anon replied, lifting his leg up slightly to direct attention to his foot.

"Ah, I can't say I've ever heard of those before. I know you have hands. Minotaurs do too, but they have hooves instead of feet." Celestia acknowledged.

"This is all very interesting talk, sister, however, we did agree to discuss some rather important matters at dinner, didn't we?" Luna suddenly interjected from her side of the table.

Celestia, Anon, and Raven all looked to the lunar alicorn as she slouched in her chair, looking incredibly bored.

"Yes, of course," Celestia replied before turning back to Anon, "Anonymous, won't you please take a seat? We have much to discuss."

"Yeah, I think we do." Anon replied, taking his seat.

Celestia nodded to the guards, prompting them to all leave the room before she focused her attention on Anon.

"Alright, Anonymous, firstly, I wanted to apologize for having Raven give you that cup of tea. I did not realize that it would have such an effect on you."

"I get why you did it. I've already talked this over with Raven." Anon curtly replied.

Celestia nodded slowly, "I see. I think it would be safe to assume that you are unhappy about the whole situation."

"Beyond unhappy. Drugging someone is a serious crime on my world."

Celestia frowned,"I understand. Please also understand that rhineroot isn't more of a drug than any other type of ginger root. It simply has more calming properties than most others. I didn't realize it would be so much more potent on you." She replied, bowing her head apologetically.

Anon nodded, "Like I said, I get why you did it, I'm just not happy about being lied to about it." He replied, crossing his arms.

"Who lied to you?" Celestia inquired.

"Withholding the truth is the same thing as lying, Princess." Anon replied.

Celestia and Luna both shared a look before the former sagged her shoulders slightly and shook her head.

"I understand your frustrations, Anonymous. Please understand that I will never let something like that happen again. Regardless of how you feel about me or my sister, we do want you to be happy and healthy." Celestia responded.

"Speak for thyself, sister." Luna muttered under her breath.

Celestia's eyes darted toward the smaller alicorn and she directed a glare her way for a brief moment before returning her attention to Anon.

"Clearly we haven't earned your trust yet. I understand that. The past twenty four hours have been trying for all of us. Having said that, I think the worst of it is over, at least for the time being." Celestia offered.

"If you say so... anyways, how bad did I make myself look? How bad did I make you both look?" Anon questioned, crossing his arms and leaning back into his chair, "Drunk me tends to get a bit... iffy."

"If you are referring to when you molested us in front of our subjects, then yes. Drunk you is quite a bit 'iffy'." Luna piped up from her side of the table.

"What!?' Anon exclaimed, instantly sitting upright.

"Luna, please!" Celestia facehoofed, "Anonymous, relax. You did nothing of the sort."

Anon breathed a sigh of relief before Luna responded.

"Well what would you call it, sister!?" She asserted, pointing an accusing hoof toward the solar alicorn.

"It was a kiss! Yes he was assertive about it, but it's not like he pinned you down and had his way with you! Not to mention, you were supposed to kiss him! Stop acting as if he assaulted you." Celestia shouted, the finality of her tone making Luna lean back into her chair and pout.

"Well he thought about it." She mumbled.

Anon watched the exchange with a concerned frown on his face. He twiddled his thumbs for a few moments as he thought over everything he'd heard.

"So... I kissed Luna pretty aggressively? Is that all? Or did I do more dumb shit?" Anon asked.

"No, Anonymous. For the most part you were relatively tame. You were noticeably struggling to stand at several points, but you managed to keep yourself from appearing completely intoxicated the entire time." Celestia replied, giving a more friendly look Anon's way.

Anon nodded, "So... I didn't take me clothes off or anything, right?"

Celestia and Luna both looked at Anon as if he'd grown a second head.

"Um... no, no I don't recall seeing you naked. Is... is there a reason you would undress? So far I've only ever seen you with clothes on." Celestia replied, slowly.

"No, no. I just... like I said, drunk me is... iffy. As long as I didn't get to stripping, we're good." Anon replied with a relieved sigh.

"Is being naked some sort of taboo for you?" Luna inquired, looking Anon over curiously.

"Extremely so. On my world, just about everyone wears clothes all the time. We've even gotten to the point that being naked outside is illegal in pretty much every city and town where I'm from." Anon replied.

Luna and Celestia shared a look.

"Why?" Celestia asked.

"Well... there's a bunch of reasons. Biggest being decency." Anon shrugged.

"It's indecent to not be clothed on your world?" Luna questioned, a perplexed look on her face.

"Well yeah. We're not like you ponies. We don't have tails to cover things up or fur to hide our bits." Anon responded.

"Don't you have a sheath?" Celestia asked.

Anon blushed slightly, "Uh, isn't this not really... dinner talk?"

"Nonsense! We are intrigued. Tell us more, Anonymous." Luna ordered.

Anon looked to Celestia for help, only to find her nodding encouragingly for him to continue, her expression confirming her interest in the topic.

"Well... no. We don't have sheaths or anything. It all just kinda... hangs out. So clothes help keep everything from flopping around or getting hurt by something else. Also it's just common decency to keep your bits out of sight when there are kids or other people around." Anon admitted

Celestia nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer. Luna hummed in thought before shrugging and returning to her slouched position in the chair. An awkward silence quickly fell over the room as Anon looked back and forth between the two princesses.

"So, uh... what happens now?" He asked.

"Dinner." Luna immediately answered.

"I meant like, big picture. What, am I supposed to marry you guys and become a prince and do prince things? Am I supposed to help run a kingdom here?" Anon pressed.

Celestia rested her chin on her hoof and pursed her lips as she thought over Anon's question, "As far as your role is concerned, you won't have any royal responsibilities or duties until you're a prince. Even once you're a prince, you will need our approval in a vote of at least two to one to pass anything. You will live in the castle and be free to do as you please, as long as you don't violate decorum in public." She answered.

"So... what does that mean for us as a whole?" Anon questioned.

"There is no 'us' Anonymous. There is only my sister and I. You are merely a tool to help us subvert a law my sister foolishly signed seven hundred years ago." Luna spoke up.

Anon pursed his lips, "Okay... kinda rude but I guess I get it. So ponies won't ask questions about why I'm never with you guys or why we never do things in public like normal couples do?" He asked.

"Your little show at the ceremony certainly made an impression in the minds of everypony present. As far as I'm aware, they are truly convinced that you love us and we you. I'm not sure how the opinions of the rest of Equestria fair, but hopefully there shouldn't be a need for many public displays of affection from here on out." Celestia responded.

Anon nodded, "So... if I understand this correctly... you both feel nothing for me, which is fine, but we're going to be married and we won't even have to pretend to love each other in public to convince the ponies that we're actually in love." He surmised.

"Precisely." Luna replied.

"So... what would happen if I wanted to be with someone? I'm not trying to die alone here." Anon crossed his arms.

Celestia and Luna shared a look.

"Well... if you want a relationship with a mare, I'm sure that could be accommodated... but it would have to be kept completely secret. Also the mare must be able to keep our secret as well." Celestia replied.

"Okay... and if I found the perfect mare, but she couldn't move to the castle and help me keep your secrets... then what? Am I supposed to just lose her and keep pretending to love you two only when there's other people around? 'Cause if that's the situation here, then I'm out." Anon firmly asserted.

"Anonymous, please understand our situation. If you were to be caught with another mare, it could spell disaster for everything we've been trying to accomplish here in the first place." Celestia offered, holding her hoof up in a placating manner.

"All I'm hearing here is how things could be worse for you two. What about how this affects me? I was under the impression earlier that there was some tiny level of attraction there that made you want to choose me over any pony in that court. Now, you're expecting me to live a loveless life in a world that isn't my own just so that you two can keep your incest going?" Anon questioned, some anger quickly slipping into his tone.

"Anonymous, please calm down. The situation is much more complicated than that-" Celestia began.

"Well un-complicate it then." Anon cut her off.

Luna slammed her hooves on the table, "Do not speak over my sister, whelp!" She shouted.

"Oh fuck off! I'm getting really fucking tired of your goddamn attitude over there! You've been a complete cunt to me ever since I got here, and last I checked, it's your fucking fault I'm here in the first place!" Anon furiously shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Luna.

"Anon! Nightmare Moon returning and dragging you into our world was not Luna's fault!" Celestia exclaimed, "It was a mistake that we've done everything in our power to rectify, and I would appreciate it if you didn't bring up the matter in such an accusatory manner." She explained.

"No, no, no. I'm done with the mister nice guy shit. I've been as polite and courteous as I can be, but I draw the fucking line at being told to die alone so that you two degenerates can fuck without consequence!" Anon continued to shout, pushing his chair out and standing to his feet.

"Anon-" Celestia protested.

Anon stormed off and headed to the doorway.

"Anon, please!" Celestia pleaded as she teleported beside him.

"I'm done talking to you tonight. Unless you can give me a better answer than that, then I'm done with you both." Anon coldly responded as he pulled the door open and left the room. The guards all standing outside quickly shuffled back to their posts in a vain attempt to appear as if they hadn't been listening. Anon stormed past them, leaving even Javelin speechless as he disappeared down the corridor toward his room.

Celestia held up a foreleg to protest his leaving, but only for a moment. She sighed heavily and dropped her foreleg to the floor, a loud *clop* echoing through the now deafeningly quiet halls.

"Sergeant Javelin." Celestia spoke, her voice just a fraction of it's normal strength.

"Yes, your highness!" Javelin immediately responded, rushing into the dining room and snapping a quick salute.

"Please go make sure Anonymous is alright. As for the rest of you, you are all dismissed. I need some time alone with my sister." Celestia replied.

"Yes, Princess!" The guards all answered in unison.

Javelin quickly trotted off as the rest of the guard disbanded and headed toward their barracks for the night. As they departed, Celestia walked back into the dining room to find Luna still sitting at her chair, her head low and her mane covering her face. The larger alicorn quickly walked up to her sister and placed a comforting hoof on her wither.

"I... I am sorry, Lulu." She whispered.

Luna slowly looked up to Celestia, her mane slipping from her face in the process and exposing two streaks of tears running down her cheeks. Celestia instantly felt her heart break at the sight, and she quickly pulled the smaller alicorn into a hug.

"He shouldn't have said those things, Luna. It's not your fault." Celestia comforted.

"N-no... he was right... he was completely right." Luna croaked.

"Lulu..."

"I chose to become Nightmare Moon. My return brought Anonymous here against his will. I... I've been so cruel to him and it's my fault he's even here in the first place." Luna whispered, before more tears fell.

"It was an accident. You didn't intend to bring him here, nor did you intend to become the Nightmare. It was my fault for not listening when I should have." Celestia responded.

"Tia... are we selfish?" Luna asked.

Celestia looked away for a moment, "In this regard... Yes. I believe we are being rather selfish." She admitted.

"I want nothing more than to be with you for the rest of our lives... so why must that be so hard?" Luna questioned, her sobbing turned to sniffles.

"Mortals are tricky, sister... Their love burns brighter than any other... but it burns out so quickly as well." Celestia responded.

Luna fell silent for quite some time. Celestia eventually looked down at her sister just as she finally spoke again.

"Is this not something the Nightmare would do? Deny a mortal creature love just so that it could love instead?" Luna asked.

Celestia was taken aback at the question. She dipped her head in thought for a long while before finally coming up with the answer.

"I suppose so... What do you propose, sister?" She asked.

Author's Note

Personally, I feel like Anon wasn't harsh enough on them, but eh, what do I know? I'm just the author.