A/N: so, like I said, I'll be switching back between this story and 'When Worlds Collide' mostly, so that I can get them done with, and start on more stories, as well as starting some original ones, anyway, hope you enjoy.

Rise of the Alicorn's: chapter 3: days of preparation

Despite both having a very restful sleep, both Twilight and Rising Star were awoken by the buzzing of the alarm, Rising Star was the first to react, opening his eyes and rolling on to his back, he groaned as he turned his head and reached his hoof out and hit the snooze button, he sighed and turned to face Twilight, he smiled at how peaceful she looked as she slept.

He calmly kissed her on the nose, which seemed to wake her up, her beautiful eyes meeting his, she smiled back and sighed happily, "good morning, handsome" she said with a sleepy smile, Rising Star smiled back, ad nuzzled her cheek, "good morning yourself, my beautiful Princess" he said as he turned on to his back and stretched, extending his wings and sighing with relief as they cracked lightly, he pushed himself out of bed, and made his way to the shower, they both had a big day today.

After brushing his teeth, combing his mane, and taking a relaxing shower, he came out just in time to see Twilight getting out of bed, he smiled and walked over to her, "so, what's on the agenda for today?" he said as he smoothed his hoof through his mane, Twilight sighed and made her way to the bathroom, "well, Princess Celestia has put me in charge of the Gala preparations, so I have that, your free for the day, what about you?" she asked, Rising Star smiled to himself.

"Oh, I just have some errands to run around town, shouldn't take very long, I'll be back by lunch, then I'll help you with the plans, when will our friends be back?" he asked, Twilight shrugged and looked at the calendar, "well, knowing Rarity and her obsession with perfect dress patterns, probably not until tomorrow afternoon" she said as she closed the door, and turned on the shower.

Watching the door for a few minutes, Rising Star stepped on to their balcony and sighed happily as he looked out over the city, he laughed at the thought at how the simple towns from his time, grew into sprawling cities, even after the few months of being here, every now and then, the painful memories of his parent's death came back to haunt him, many nights after Bloodmane's defeat, he would awake, and find out he had been crying in his sleep, only after a comforting talk from Twilight was he able to fall asleep.

Even now, there were times when he felt he didn't deserve her, knowing that he truly didn't belong in this time, but still aware that he was one of the few survivors, the fact that he had Twilight, and they went around helping other newly arrives Alicorn's, made him feel at peace, a part of him felt he truly belonged here.

After another few minutes of fresh air, he stepped back inside, just in time to see Twilight come out from the shower, a towel wrapped around her mane, her coat still slightly damp, gleaming in the sunlight through the window, making her look even more beautiful, which Rising Star found hard to believe, Twilight noticed his staring and giggled, "see anything you like?" she said with a devious smile, Rising Star chuckled, "indeed I do, you're the most beautiful pony I've ever seen" he said, Twilight blushed at his compliment, "well, as much as I would like to stay here and have you compliment me, I've got important Princess business to be doing, right after breakfast" she said as she walked out of the room, Rising Star smiled and walked after her.

(Later that morning…)

After having their breakfast with the other Princess's, Rising and Twilight went their separate ways, Twilight made her way to the ball room, while Rising Star made his way into town, making sure she wouldn't follow him.

(Canterlot, market district)

Despite having some of the most arrogant and rude ponies in the kingdom, one of the many things Rising Star loved about the city was how active it was, he calmly walked along the street, admiring as ponies went about their daily lives, running their business's, doing their daily errands, or just out for a stroll, he loved it all.

The market district was one of the busiest parts of the city, filled with shops and café's of all sorts, but Rising Star had one destination in mind, as he came to one of the street corners, he turned and walked into a small corner shop.

As he pushed open the door, the bell on top jingled loudly, and again as it closed behind him, the shopkeeper turned to him with a warming smile, "good day sir, how may I help you?" he asked in a friendly manner, as he took a spot behind the large clear cases, filled with necklaces and rings of all sorts, Rising Star smiled and walked up to him, making sure nopony else was here, he calmly leaned over the counter, "good day to you as well, I'm here to pick up my order, it's under Mr. Star" he said as he reached into his bag and pulled out a card, and giving it to him.

The shopkeeper took the card and looked at it through his glasses, the older unicorn's smile widened even more and as put the card down, "ah yes, that order, just a moment please" he said and nodded toward his assistant, who immediately went and closed the blinds to the outside, leaving the room in partial darkness, the shopkeeper went to the back, and reappeared a few minutes later, carrying a small black box, he smiled as he placed in front of Rising Star.

"there you are sir, the Imperial crystal, mined from the northern crystal mountains, cut and fitted right here, a very rare diamond, they've only been put back into production, since the Crystal Empire returned, which makes my business bloom" he said with a smile, Rising Star slowly opened the small box, revealing a shining light blue crystal attached to a solid gold necklace, Rising Star smiled at its shimmering beauty.

The shopkeeper looked at him and smiled, "it's a very interesting diamond, it holds a lot of respect with the Empire, the Crystal Ponies believe that if you give this crystal to the one pony you love more than any other, it's a sign that you will be together forever, if you don't mind my asking, what did you plan on using such a rare diamond for?" he asked, Rising Star picked it up and examined it in the light, smiling to himself, "I plan on proposing to my marefriend, the night of the Gala" he said, the shopkeeper smiled wider, "ah, she must be something very special, the Gala is a very romantic event, many stallions propose there, but if you don't mind taking a bit of advice, from and old stallion, being in this line of business, I've heard many stories over the years of stallion's wishing to propose at the Gala, it's where I proposed to my wife" he said as Rising Star turned to him and smiled.

"she means the world to me, I would give my life for her, if it came to it, I'd be more than happy to take some advice" he said, the shopkeeper smiled and took the box, "there's nothing more romantic then young love, every year at the Gala, they open the garden's to the public, on the far end of the gardens, overlooking them, there's a small gazebo, not many know of it, but it's the perfect place for a romantic proposal, especially since you're in perfect view of the fireworks, wait for that moment, and it will be the most memorable part of your life, I hope you two will be very happy together, and trust me, she'll love it" he said with a kindly smile.

Rising Star smiled back and placed the box in his bag, and took out a smaller bag filled with bits and gave it to the shopkeeper, "I paid for half of it already, here's the rest and thank you, for the advice and the necklace, goodbye" he said, the shopkeeper waved, as he put the bag of bits under the counter, "no, thank you, I trust you'll be very happy together, many ponies are only in this business for the money, but me, while I do make a lot of money, I also enjoy seeing ponies make their dreams come true, it gives a sense of purpose, goodbye" he said as his assistant open the blinds again, as Rising Star walked out on to the street.

He smiled to himself, remembering what the shopkeeper told him, he would keep that in mind, a large smiled plastered on to his face, the entire walk back, this would be an interesting next few days.

(The next day…)

The rest of the day progressed as it usually did, and Rising Star spent the remainder of the day helping Twilight out around the castle, helping her set up the Gala, the entire time, keeping his little visit to the jewelry store, a secret, and luckily for him, Twilight never suspected a thing.

The next day came quickly, and they started their morning as usual, waking up and taking showers, Twilight was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing her friends again, even thought she had just seen them a day ago, Rising Star agreed to meet them at the train station, he wanted to tell them of his plans in secret.

(Canterlot, train station)

Rising Star stood calmly on the boarding platform, the train was scheduled to arrive in a few minutes, where he would take them back to the castle by carriage, as he waited for another few minutes, he heard the sound of a train whistle in the distance, he sighed with relief as the train quickly pulled into the station, and came to a stop with a loud hiss.

As the smoke cleared, he saw five familiar mares, and one young dragon, step on to the platform, instead of calling out, he walked over to them, until they spotted him, they walked over to him with smiles, "howdy Rising Star, nice of ya to meet us here, where's Twilight?" Applejack asked looking around, Rising Star chuckled, "nice to see you girls again as well, I hope you had fun back in PonyVille, Twilight's back at the castle, I hope you had enough time to finish up the dress's Rarity" he said to her, the white mare chuckled and flicked her mane, "indeed I did, I have them all here in my cases', I even found the time to make you a fancy tuxedo, you know, so you look good for a certain mare" she said while rubbing a hoof on his chest, Rising Star smiled and chuckled, "well, thank you, I'm sure it looks nice, come on, let's get you girls settled in the castle" he said leading them off the platform.

After leaving the station, and getting into the large carriage, they all started chatting as they went along the streets, all except Rising Star, who was looking out the window, an uneasy look on his face, as he listened to the girls chatting, he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned and saw Applejack looking at him worriedly, "you alright sugarcube? You seem really distant" she said, Rising Star turned and saw them all looking at him, he sighed and turned to them fully, "yeah, I'm fine, but listen there's something I have to ask you girls, I'm just not sure how to say it" he said looking down nervously, the five mares looked at each other with confused looks.

Rarity was the first to speak, "well of course darling, you can tell us anything, is something wrong?" she asked concern evident in her voice, Rising Star shook his head, "no, nothing's wrong, it's about Twilight and myself, we-" he tried to say, but was cut off by Rainbow, "what a minute, are you two fighting, or something, I know Twilight can stubborn at time, but really I-" she tried saying but Rising Star cut her off, "no, no, it's nothing like that, look, if I tell you this, you have to promise me, you won't tell Twilight, no matter what" he said in a more serious tone, they all looked at each other with looks of interest and worry.

"Well, normally we don't keep secrets from our friend, but if it means that much to you, we promise" Rarity said, but Pinkie cut in, "no! We Pinkie promise, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" they all said the last part firmly, Rising Star gave a sigh of relief, and reached into his cloak pocket, and pulled out a small black box, and opened it, revealing a shining diamond, on a solid gold necklace, they all gasped at its gleaming beauty.

"Is that what I think it is…?" Fluttershy asked, looking at the glimmering gem, Rising Star nodded and smiled, "the truth is, I plan on proposing to Twilight…at the Gala, but you have to promise me, you won't tell her, I want this to be a big surprise" he said with a smile, all the mares gasped and cried out in joy, all giving him hugs, almost rocking the carriage, "oh my! That's simply wonderful darling, I know she'll love it, if it's something like this, we'll all keep our mouths shut, oh! This is so exciting, our dear Twilight, getting married!" she said with a giggle, "I'm sure she will agree" Applejack said, he turned to her with a hopeful look, "do you really think so, even just thinking about it, makes me nervous" he said, as he put the box away, all the girls nodded.

"Of course she will sugarcube, you both love each other, your more compatible than any other couple I've seen, you just make sure your ready for the commitment of a husband, do that, and we'll support the both of ya, all the way" Applejack said, putting her hoof on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile, Rising Star looked at all of them as they gave him reassuring nods, he leaned back and gave a sigh of relief, he was glad they were on his side, now all he had to do, was ask Twilight.

A/N: well there you have it, will things go right for our hero, or will the night take a turn for the worst? See you next time, hope you enjoyed, peace out.