//------------------------------// // Love In Equestria // Story: Spring Break // by pabrony //------------------------------// I walked out of Celestia's personal chambers filled with a feeling of relief after making up with the princess. There were still a couple of dark lines on my cheeks from where I had been crying off and on for the last few hours. I closed the doors behind me and found Twi curled up in one of the sofas asleep. I couldn't help but laugh at her as she had a small puddle of drool underneath her chin. "Hey the pancakes are burning," I whispered in her ear. "Ohmygosh! I can't believe I fell asleep with them..." she stopped abruptly as soon as she saw me grinning from ear to ear. "Payback's a bitch. Isn't it?" Twi didn't say anything. Instead, she hopped off the sofa and smacked me in the face with her tail. I can only assume that the fact I was still snickering annoyed her even more because I got smacked in the face a second time. We continued on to the castle library that I promised her that we would visit while we were there. I gave her a kiss on the cheek as we exited out of the main building into the courtyard. "Hey, I want to show you something in the flower gardens real quick." "It's not going to jump out and attack me is it?" "No it's something special that's connected with my cutie mark," I said with a smile. "Sooo it's a killer plant?" "Oh ha ha. Just follow me." I led her to a group of bushes that had flower buds on them. The puzzled look on her face told me that she wasn't impressed. Not yet, anyway. "So a group of bushes is what you got your cutie mark from?" asked Twi flatly. "It's not the bushes. It's what I can do with them." I moved to the western side of the bushes and closed my eyes to focus on the difficult spell that I had only performed a half dozen times. The teal aura that accompanies my magic started to surround my horn. As the power grew, I felt the sensation of my cutie mark begin to glow as well. "Oh wow," Twi said excitedly. "They're beautiful. Are they...?" I finished the spell and opened my eyes to find the group of about twenty or so rose bushes had blossomed. I took a minute to get my bearings before receiving a smooch square on the muzzle. But I wasn't done quite yet. "I need to talk to you about something serious for a moment, babe," I quietly told her. "Really? What?" I levitated a pair of scissors from my saddle bag, snipped off the largest blossom I could find and gently weaved it into her mane. "We've been through a lot over the past year," I said as I snipped a couple more roses and began weaving those into a crown. "The Friendship Games, Camp Everfree, Juniper Montage and quite a few unique parties from Pinkie. Well, we almost had one more thing to add to the list." "Almost?" "Yeah. Celestia offered to ascend me to an alicorn princess while we were making amends." "You didn't take her up on the offer, did you?" "No, I didn't," I said lowering the volume of my voice. "But why? That's what you always wanted. Wasn't it?" Twi asked softly. "Yes, but it would mean I would have to stay in Equestria." I took a deep breath before continuing. "I have something I want to ask you." "Okay, what is it?" "You know how we're going to the final day of the Crystal Fair tomorrow?" "Yeah, why? Is there a change in the itinerary?" My breathing started getting shorter as my chest felt tighter. "Would you be willing to accompany me to the fair as the future Mrs. Sunset Shimmer?" I levitated a box out of my bag and opened it in front of her. "Sunny... are you...?" Twi sputtered quietly as she stared at the ring sitting in the box. "Yes. Twilight Sparkle will you marry me?" Twi stood there speechless with tears slowly building in her eyes. Her lip began quivering causing me to wonder if I was going to be rejected. However, after a minute or so, Twi wrapped her forelegs around me and gave me the answer I was longing to hear. "Yes! Oh my gosh! Yes!" I looked toward Celestia's western balcony and saw Celestia and Luna looking down at us, smiling. "What are your parents going to think when they see this monster of a rock on my horn in the morning?" Twi asked me while we walked up the door of my parents' place. "To be honest, I don't have a clue," I said, opening the door. "But I hope we don't catch Tartarus for getting in this late." "We're grown, um, ponies, Sunny," she whispered. "I don't think they're going to be waiting at the dinner table to ask us why we're sneaking in after midnight." We set our saddlebags on the floor and walked toward my bedroom as quietly as our hooves would allow. We passed the dining room and nopony was there. "That's one hurdle." "Why are we sneaking around here anyhow?" "Because I want the first time they see the ring to be when the morning sunlight hits it." "What happens then?" "It's enchanted so that any sunlight in the morning will cause it to change properties from ruby to amethyst," I whispered excitedly. "And yes it works in the human world." I saw the wonder in her eyes as she processed the magical properties in her engagement ring. "Really?" "Would I lie to you about something that involved magic?" I said as we entered my bedroom. "No. I suppose not. Now let get celebrating," she said as she knocked me over onto the bed, catching me off guard as my back hit the sheets. The heat of the moment caused me to completely forget about locking the door and the soundproofing spell. Me and Twi stepped off the train at the Crystal Empire station and the view was beautiful. The top spire of the palace was radiating all colors of the rainbow throughout the sky. The walls of the palace seemed to serve as a prism for the sunlight. We walked up the dirt road leading to the city and began to hear the music and cheering from the fair going on around the outside of the palace. "What kind of activities do they have here?" Twi asked me. "I have no idea," I said. "I would imagine that it has the usual stuff a fair has." "Well let's walk around and see what kind of stuff they have," she said with her right foreleg wrapped around my neck. The booths throughout the event were an upscaled version of most fairs I had been to as a filly; petting zoo, face painting, all those sorts of things. While waiting in line for some crystal berry pies, I noticed a sign off to the side of the booth that I felt the need to point out to Twi. "Hey, there's going to be a pie eating contest in a few hours. Wanna enter?" I asked with a smirk. "Sure, but I know for a fact I'm going to win." "And just how do you know that?" I asked with my eyebrow raised. "Duh! It's because I eat more pie than you do," she quipped. "You might eat more pie but I'm better at it," I shot back. "You wanna make a bet?" "Five bits says that I can beat you," I said, producing five gold coins from my bag. "You're on." We got to the front of the line and rather than buy anything, we signed up for the contest. Four hours later, we slowly made our way off the stage with our mouths stained blue from the crystal berry pies. True to her word, Twi ate me under the table and left everypony else to wonder what happened. "I can't believe you ate seventeen pies in five minutes," I moaned. "I guess being a lesbian has its advantages," she replied with a giggle. "Oh my-" I said, facehoofing. "That line doesn't quite work in Equestria because most of the ponies are, at the very least, bisexual." "Oh. Oops," Twi said with a nervous laugh. "It's fine." I wiped some of the leftover pie crumbs off her cheek. "But seriously, we should probably get cleaned up. If the position of the sun is right, the Crystal Heart ceremony should be starting soon." We found the nearest wash basin, got cleaned up and then got some gifts for our friends back home. A crystal flugelhorn for Pinkie, a replica jousting shield made from crystal for Rainbow Dash, a crystal necklace for Rarity, crystal berry fritters for Applejack and a crystal plush bunny for Fluttershy. "What about me?" Twi whined playfully. "Don't I get anything?" "Um... Twi...?" I said pointing to her horn. "Oh. Right." It was about then that Princess Cadence stepped out onto the balcony to begin the ceremony. Shining Armor was to her left holding Princess Flurry Heart. "That's what Cadence looks like as a pony?" Twi asked in amazement. "I guess so. This is the first time I've seen her in Equestria." "I never would've guessed that the tips of her wings would be purple." "I know. That the first time I'd ever seen a pony with multicolored wings." "Fillies and gentlecolts!" Cadence finally announced after a short trumpet fanfare. "This week has been the most successful fair since I've been appointed the ruler of the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Heart has been radiating with love and hope more than it ever has been. I would ask that you now focus all the love in your heart toward powering the heart for the next year. The love for your family. The love for your friends. The love for your neighbors. The love for your enemies. Whatever the love you are feeling, use that love to power the heart.” I closed my eyes and bowed my head so that I could focus my energy toward the center of the city. While doing this I saw myself and Twi locking arms at our wedding after saying our vows. All our friends were there with us as was my family. I continued to enjoy the subconscious vision until I felt somepony rubbing my cheek. “Sunny, you're… beautiful,” Twi said as I opened my eyes. I probably shared the same look she had on her face when I saw that her body had turned to a crystalline form. “So are you, babe,” I replied, kissing her on the lips. I levitated our camera out of my bag and asked one of the crystal ponies to take a picture of us. "We are going to make Rarity so jealous," Twi said, eliciting a giggle from the both of us. "We sure are."