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Description

Last Thing's operation was over in my Equestria dreamscape,

Mature Content

but in other parts of the kingdom and beyond other ponies had their own projects.

  Shining Armor trotted through the encampment. The last meeting of the evening with the site staff had finished a few minutes ago, and the stallion was looking forward to a shower and then a few hours of sleep before he needed to be up again at 05:00. However he knew that before he could retire for the evening there was last hurdle to pass. That constant unrelenting foe that challenged everypony in his position. The daily report and the routine bureaucratic paperwork of command.

  It had finally started to stay consistently warm and with the thaw behind them the ground had started to really dry out. Well as dry as it got around here. However with the approaching summer the ponies at the camp were confronted with a new foe. Mosquitoes. Millions of them that were emerging from the numerous pools and marshy ground in vicinity of the base. To combat the problem bug repellent had been liberally issued and wards had been erected. These countermeasures generally spared ponies from being sucked completely dry by the swarms of blood-sucking insects. However it was only inside the few permanent structures on the site that ponies could escape the unrelenting, incessant, high-pitched whine of millions of wings.

  With the drying out of the ground and increasing daylight Shining's team was making real progress, and they were starting to gain a better idea of when the Crystal Empire might make its return from the stasis bubble that had removed it from the current time stream. The exact date of the spell's termination was still unknown, but everyday they were gaining a better idea of when that day might be.

  At the same time another date was quickly approaching that was weighing more and more on the stallion's mind. The date of his wedding. Shining really hated to do it, but due to the secrecy of this operation he had been forced to delegate much of its preparation on to Cadence and the Royal Sisters. It was only a few months away now. He was receiving a steady stream of letters from Cadence and Celestia assuring him that everything was on schedule and proceeding according to plans. Still he felt guilty for playing almost no part in preparing for this important day.

  On top of the thousands of little things that had to be accomplished to make certain the wedding went off on schedule there were two other issues that had complicated the event. First was cryptic information that the Royal Sisters had learned from the great dragon Bent Horn. Second was the breaking into of Celestia's office and the apprehension and subsequent escape of the griffin Rakorno.

Mature Content

That griffin had gone to great lengths to apparently obtain just one thing. The guest list for their upcoming wedding, and in spite of several confirmed sightings of the suspect after his escape he was never captured. Shining chewed this detail over in his head as he trotted along.

  The camp was laid out in a simple grid fashion. Turning the corner and passing the mess hall the unicorn saw his administrative offices and private quarters ahead. It had been one of the first permanent structures that had been erected on the site. Rank did have its privileges. However the Captain of the Royal Guard paused as his quarters came into view. Something was wrong. From the windows of his private room he could see the glow of a lit oil lamp. The diffused light leaked through and around the drawn blinds on the windows. He'd extinguished the lamp on his desk when he'd left this morning. Cautiously he approached the building.

  He was tempted to call the guard that patrolled the base but he hesitated. Maybe one of his personal staff had done it knowing he would be coming back late tonight. However there were no other lights on in the building. It was unwise to leave a lit oil lamp unattended.

  The white unicorn came up to the front door and paused tried to listen above the constant whine of mosquitoes wings for any clues. From his room he could hear the muffled sound of his gramophone playing. Somepony was listening to his collection of drums.

  Quickly Shining Armor cast a couple of protection wards on himself. Then he tested the door to find it unlocked. Standing to one side he reached out with his levitation and slowly opened it. For several seconds he waited Then reached out again with his horn and lit the lamp that he knew hung on wall by the coat rack. Slowly he saw its glow build providing some light to the interior. Waiting a few seconds again he cautiously peered around the corner. the offices appeared to be empty. With the front door open he could clearly hear the music now. Slowly he entered building and made his way toward his private quarters. He winced as he forgot about the one floorboard that alway squeaked when you stepped on it. Pausing he waited to see if anything changed. The music continued playing. It was a waltz. The same piece that had been playing when he'd proposed to his fiancee that night at the dance hall a year ago.

  Finally he reached the door without making any further noise. Once again he paused and listened through the door. The song came to an end, then after a few seconds it resumed playing again. Somepony was in there. Taking a deep breath the Captain of the Royal Guard grabbed door handle and flung the door open and stormed in. And then promptly came to a halt.

  Lying on his bed was his wife to be wearing something that was obviously meant for only him to see. She smirked at the stallion. "You always were one for dramatic entrances. Hello dear."

  The stallion stood there dumbfound as the mare rose from the bed. "Caddy? What? How? When did you get–" The stallion's string of questions was silenced when the pink alicorn pressed her lips against his. For the next few seconds the only sound again was that of gramophone playing.

  Finally the couple detached. Cadence tossed her mane. "To answer your first question I was up in Trottingham taking care of arrangements for the wedding. She paused and looked down at her outfit, and I found out their was transport train heading here today. Soooo, I pulled some strings and got onboard. Also I wired ahead and spoke with your second in command Dancing Dream. She and every other pony here thinks you've been cooped up here for way too long without giving yourself any time for relaxation."

  Cadence stepped forward and slowly began nuzzling her fiancee's neck. Then lifting her head she gently started nibbling on one of his ears. As she did she felt a shiver ripple through the stallion's body. The mare let go of his ear and growled into it. "And I haven't seen you for so long it was driving me crazy! So if was feeling this way you were probably feeling the same way!"

  The mare's suspicions were confirmed by stallion pushing her toward the bed. She grinned and used her telekinesis to swing the bedroom closed and to secure the latch.

  The gramophone played on.

To be continued.

I hope you like what you see. Please help make more art like this possible by supporting me at Patreon

Description

Last Thing's operation was over in my Equestria dreamscape,

Mature Content

but in other parts of the kingdom and beyond other ponies had their own projects.

  Shining Armor trotted through the encampment. The last meeting of the evening with the site staff had finished a few minutes ago, and the stallion was looking forward to a shower and then a few hours of sleep before he needed to be up again at 05:00. However he knew that before he could retire for the evening there was last hurdle to pass. That constant unrelenting foe that challenged everypony in his position. The daily report and the routine bureaucratic paperwork of command.

  It had finally started to stay consistently warm and with the thaw behind them the ground had started to really dry out. Well as dry as it got around here. However with the approaching summer the ponies at the camp were confronted with a new foe. Mosquitoes. Millions of them that were emerging from the numerous pools and marshy ground in vicinity of the base. To combat the problem bug repellent had been liberally issued and wards had been erected. These countermeasures generally spared ponies from being sucked completely dry by the swarms of blood-sucking insects. However it was only inside the few permanent structures on the site that ponies could escape the unrelenting, incessant, high-pitched whine of millions of wings.

  With the drying out of the ground and increasing daylight Shining's team was making real progress, and they were starting to gain a better idea of when the Crystal Empire might make its return from the stasis bubble that had removed it from the current time stream. The exact date of the spell's termination was still unknown, but everyday they were gaining a better idea of when that day might be.

  At the same time another date was quickly approaching that was weighing more and more on the stallion's mind. The date of his wedding. Shining really hated to do it, but due to the secrecy of this operation he had been forced to delegate much of its preparation on to Cadence and the Royal Sisters. It was only a few months away now. He was receiving a steady stream of letters from Cadence and Celestia assuring him that everything was on schedule and proceeding according to plans. Still he felt guilty for playing almost no part in preparing for this important day.

  On top of the thousands of little things that had to be accomplished to make certain the wedding went off on schedule there were two other issues that had complicated the event. First was cryptic information that the Royal Sisters had learned from the great dragon Bent Horn. Second was the breaking into of Celestia's office and the apprehension and subsequent escape of the griffin Rakorno.

Mature Content

That griffin had gone to great lengths to apparently obtain just one thing. The guest list for their upcoming wedding, and in spite of several confirmed sightings of the suspect after his escape he was never captured. Shining chewed this detail over in his head as he trotted along.

  The camp was laid out in a simple grid fashion. Turning the corner and passing the mess hall the unicorn saw his administrative offices and private quarters ahead. It had been one of the first permanent structures that had been erected on the site. Rank did have its privileges. However the Captain of the Royal Guard paused as his quarters came into view. Something was wrong. From the windows of his private room he could see the glow of a lit oil lamp. The diffused light leaked through and around the drawn blinds on the windows. He'd extinguished the lamp on his desk when he'd left this morning. Cautiously he approached the building.

  He was tempted to call the guard that patrolled the base but he hesitated. Maybe one of his personal staff had done it knowing he would be coming back late tonight. However there were no other lights on in the building. It was unwise to leave a lit oil lamp unattended.

  The white unicorn came up to the front door and paused tried to listen above the constant whine of mosquitoes wings for any clues. From his room he could hear the muffled sound of his gramophone playing. Somepony was listening to his collection of drums.

  Quickly Shining Armor cast a couple of protection wards on himself. Then he tested the door to find it unlocked. Standing to one side he reached out with his levitation and slowly opened it. For several seconds he waited Then reached out again with his horn and lit the lamp that he knew hung on wall by the coat rack. Slowly he saw its glow build providing some light to the interior. Waiting a few seconds again he cautiously peered around the corner. the offices appeared to be empty. With the front door open he could clearly hear the music now. Slowly he entered building and made his way toward his private quarters. He winced as he forgot about the one floorboard that alway squeaked when you stepped on it. Pausing he waited to see if anything changed. The music continued playing. It was a waltz. The same piece that had been playing when he'd proposed to his fiancee that night at the dance hall a year ago.

  Finally he reached the door without making any further noise. Once again he paused and listened through the door. The song came to an end, then after a few seconds it resumed playing again. Somepony was in there. Taking a deep breath the Captain of the Royal Guard grabbed door handle and flung the door open and stormed in. And then promptly came to a halt.

  Lying on his bed was his wife to be wearing something that was obviously meant for only him to see. She smirked at the stallion. "You always were one for dramatic entrances. Hello dear."

  The stallion stood there dumbfound as the mare rose from the bed. "Caddy? What? How? When did you get–" The stallion's string of questions was silenced when the pink alicorn pressed her lips against his. For the next few seconds the only sound again was that of gramophone playing.

  Finally the couple detached. Cadence tossed her mane. "To answer your first question I was up in Trottingham taking care of arrangements for the wedding. She paused and looked down at her outfit, and I found out their was transport train heading here today. Soooo, I pulled some strings and got onboard. Also I wired ahead and spoke with your second in command Dancing Dream. She and every other pony here thinks you've been cooped up here for way too long without giving yourself any time for relaxation."

  Cadence stepped forward and slowly began nuzzling her fiancee's neck. Then lifting her head she gently started nibbling on one of his ears. As she did she felt a shiver ripple through the stallion's body. The mare let go of his ear and growled into it. "And I haven't seen you for so long it was driving me crazy! So if was feeling this way you were probably feeling the same way!"

  The mare's suspicions were confirmed by stallion pushing her toward the bed. She grinned and used her telekinesis to swing the bedroom closed and to secure the latch.

  The gramophone played on.

To be continued.

I hope you like what you see. Please help make more art like this possible by supporting me at Patreon