//------------------------------//
// Weave Made It So Far 
// Story: By and by 
// by Bysen 
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Pinkie was bounced back towards Bysen’s camp. She’d returned home yesterday limping with a black eye. Naturally her father had assumed the worst. Even though he had no reason to believe Bysen would do that to his daughter or that Pinkie would lie about how it happened, but it still lingered in the back of his mind.

With her Pinkie was carrying a box of cupcakes and a length of rope. She wasn’t far from his camp now, and in fact, she was here. She was a little surprised at what she saw: the shelter already restored. She hadn’t seen any rope around the camp and didn’t think he could’ve went into town at the time that she’d left yesterday but there it was. All strung up with good, heavy looking rope.

Bysen was asleep inside the skull of the dragon. He barely fit anymore but it he still did, even if it was a bit of a squeeze, it was worth it for a warm and dry place to sleep. “Bysen, you in there?” Pinkie called into the chamber. He stirred from his sleep and turned to her.

“Good morning Pinkie Pie.” he replied, then followed it with a yawn as he stretched and stood up.

“Actually, it’s kinda really late in the afternoon already.” which he noticed as he squeezed his way out of his shelter.

“So it is. I must’ve stayed up far later than I realized repairing the shelter.”

“Oh yeah about that. I brought you some rope to use but… you already don’t need it. Where’d you get the rope from anyway? You couldn’t have made it into town yesterday.”

“I made it." he replied. While Pinkie thought he meant he'd made it into town what it actually meant was "It’s a simply weave made from my fur. Not unlike a braid."

"Oh wow, you made it yourself?"

"It’s not too hard, it just takes time. More time than I realized as it were.”

“That’s amazing! Also a little gross, but mostly amazing! Could you teach me how to make rope?” Pinkie yelped as she bounced up to the bones the ropes and branches were tied to, inspecting them. She had to wonder if the old ropes had been made out of the same stuff. They had to be since when he first arrived he had never even seen another pony, let alone traded with them. It amazed her even more that it would last so long.

For the next few hours Bysen showed Pinkie how to weave rope from fur. Her own fur wasn’t long enough so they used his. Her mane was and like ponies, buffalo also had this stuff called ‘hair’ on their heads that was similar to a mane but wasn’t used for this. Also, despite what Pinkie had thought, they didn’t just rip chunks of fur off of him, which was a good thing she’d asked before doing so, but collected his loose fur and strung individual pieces together.

Needless to say it took ages. And due to Pinkie learning how to, they’d only managed to make a very thin short piece of rope. That, and Bysen had been nearly completely out of extra fur by the end of last night. But at last Pinkie had gotten the hang of it. But there was something she wanted to try now. “Hey Bysen, let’s use some of my mane, and some of your ‘hair’ and make something out of that?” she asked, full of cheer.

And completely oblivious. The reason buffalo didn’t use their hair to weave rope was because it was used to weave other things: betrothal bands. A bull and a cow would take strands of the other’s hair, one at a time, and weave them together into two circlets that would be placed on each other’s left horn. While most ponies didn’t have horns, they had a similar tradition involving rings on the left hoof. But Pinkie didn’t know any of this.

“I’m afraid I cannot Pinkie Pie. You do not know what you are aski…”

“You're wrong... I know what I’m asking Bysen. I know what it means. And I want to be your wife, your mate… yours. I love you and I told you that today was something special. I know you don’t know, but can you guess?”

It was a middle of summer, so it wasn’t her thing called a ‘birthday’ or ‘Hearth’s Warming Eve’. Hearts and Hooves day was only a few moons ago which left only one other day that they’d celebrated last year. And the years before that. “It is the day we first met.”

“That’s right. It’s been seven years since we were just a little foal and a little calf that ran into each other somehow. I always said back then that I was grown up because I had my Cutie Mark, but I wasn’t, and you were on your own but you were still just a kid too. But now, I’m a mare, and you’re a bull. We’ve spent almost half our lives together, and I want us to spend the rest of them together too.”

“I would like that.” Bysen said happily. For all the joy this mare had brought him over the years, he’d never felt happier than right now. He reached up to his head and plucked out a single hair from the tuff. Unlike simple rope, these hairs were pulled and not loose, dead fur, but fresh and alive. “I am your mate.” he said as he put the single thread forward. Keeping one end in his hoof as Pinkie grabbed the other end.

Pinkie did the same, pulling a single curly pink lock. “And I am your mate.” she said as she put it alongside Bysen’s. Then while still holding their own, then reached out with their other hooves and curled the two hairs around one another. Once curled, the put the end of both strands back into a single of their hooves. It was exactly the same as Bysen had taught her. He then reached up and took another hair from his head, placing it down alongside the first he said “And I am your wife.”

Pinkie took another of her own and giggled. “No I’m your wife. You’re my husband.” Bysen chuckled as they wrapped the second two hairs around one another, and then around the first. This wasn’t meant to be as long as the rope so they didn’t need to join multiple together first. They repeated over and over. And it slowly grew in width until it was about half a centimeter thick, or just under half an inch in buffalon measurements.

Once it was ready, he hoped the next step would still work. While mostly only unicorns could precisely direct magic, all creatures had some and buffalo were no exception. He only hoped that this would still work with a pony rather than a second of his kin. Though he didn’t vocalize this thought, he could see Pinkie was worried as well. Following Bysen’s lead, Pinkie curled her end of the braid towards his and put the two ends together.

They lent in, and gently kissed with the braid between their lips. They stayed like this for a few moments before Bysen slowly pulled away. As their lips parted, it revealed the band: joined as if woven from one single long hair that went on in an infinite loop. This was more than just their magic working between to different species, this was proof that their love for one another was true. Only love could make the spell work.

“This one is for you Pinkie Pie.” he said, joy over whelming in in his tone. He raised his other hoof and put it on hers. He then took the band and gently slid it onto her hoof. It was different to a horn, but just as intimate. He looked just above her hoof to her eyes looking right back at him.

“Thank you.” Pinkie said, as she started to tear up slightly. “For more than just the band. For trying for me too. I was going by your customs, to become your mate. And you still wanted for be me to be called your wife. So thank you. Thank you so much.” Pinkie finished, before completely crying. She went to wipe her eyes with the hoof wearing the band but Bysen stopped her.

“I know they are tears of joy, but please, do not wipe them away so. These bands absorb the feelings put into them. Tears, though joyous, represent sorrow. I ask that you only ever put great happiness into them. Just like to have put great happiness into me, Pinkie Pie.” Bysen said as he wipe her tears away for her.

She smiled at him and lowered her hoof for a second, before raising it to her head once more. “We still have to make yours.” she said as she plucked another strand and pointed it towards him “I am your mate."

“And I am your husband.”