//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 - Life in Ponyland 
// Story: The Equestria That Never Was 
// by desertbat 
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One month had passed since the party with Surprise. During that time, Cadance and Tempest though it was good for us to relax a little, hone our skills without them, and get to know the ponies of Ponyland a little more. At that point, that was definitely the most peaceful month I had ever had since being here. 

During the morning we would go out to the orchard and have breakfast with the Apples and Pears. Grand Pear and the rest enjoyed us being over so often that they made us honorary family members. I would spend some time helping Applejack with the harvesting while Violet spent as much time as she could playing with Sugar Belle's foals along with helping around their house.

Big Mac and Sugar Belle had two foals while Violet and I were having our intense training sessions - a unicorn colt and an earth pony filly. The colt had a sandy brown coat with many white freckles and a dark brown mane - because of that, they named him Sand Pear. The Filly, however, she had her father's red coat and mothers bushy purple mane - they decided to name her Sweet Apple.

I remember one morning, while I was storing some apples away, I could hear Violet having so much fun with the foals. It put a smile on my face to hear her enjoying herself and glad that we could have this temporary peace. Of course, I also overheard a conversation between Violet and Sugar Belle.

"You and Big Mac really did make the cutest foals, Sugar Belle. You also make one of the cutest mothers." They were both laughing about the conversation, and I could only guess there was more to the conversation earlier, but I wouldn't know.

"You're too kind, Violet. You know I can't wait to see what your foals will look like." I could hear the surprise on Violet from that. "What's wrong? You don't need to be shocked. I see the love you two share. It's only a matter of time before you get married to that handsome stallion of yours. Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if he proposes to you soon!" Sugar Belle shouted excitedly.  "Oh, look at you! You look so cute when you're all embarrassed. You'll make a great wife and mother. You're already the most beautiful mare." I could hear more giggling and I was honestly sure my face turned crimson at that point.

"Getting married to Dessie would be a dream come true. I mean, I wanted him to propose to me by the third month, but don't you think it might still be too soon? We've spent every day together since we met, but it's only been less than six months by now.  Besides, when would be the right time when we're trying to save Equestria?"

"Sweetie," Sugar Belle said sympathetically, "it could take decades before Equestria is saved as far as any pony knows. There is never a perfect moment for these things sometimes, but if you both feel ready, you should. I know he'll propose soon." I noticed the tone began to sound teasing and her volume became a whisper. "And just between you and me, you both already act like you're both married anyway. You do sleep with him, right?" 

I began to blush from that and I could only imagine what Violet's face was at that moment. "I....we..."

"Hey Desert." I jumped high in the air and yelled in surprise. "Whoa, you okay, sugar cube?

Quickly calming down, I noticed that it was just Applejack and flew back down. "Yeah...I'm good. Why?"

"Well," the farm pony began, scratching the back of her head, "you've just been staring out like you had something on your mind. You want to talk about it?"

"Oh, don't worry I'm..." I don't know why, but I quickly reconsidered that sentence. I guess I really wanted some advice after listing to Violet and Sugar Belle. "Actually I would like to ask you something, but please don't laugh."

Applejack gave me a comforting smile and wrapped her front hoof around me. "Sure thing, Desert. You have my honest word I won't laugh and I'll do my best to help out."

I hesitated for only a moment, and then I asked her. "I've known Violet for almost six months now. We spent everyday together and the longest we spent apart was when we first arrived here. I feel we know everything about each other, but...I don't know if it's too early to still propose to her. I know I want to spend the rest of my life with her, but do you think I'm rushing it if I ask?"

She didn't respond immediately. Applejack gave me a smirk that told me she was both humored and that I had her sympathy. "I don't know if I can give you that answer. My mom and dad, along with Big Mac and Sugar Belle, knew each other since as long as they could remember, so I can't use their experience for your situation."

This made me frown a little, but Applejack soon added more. "You could ask Quibble, though. Firefly didn't really know Quibble till she was a lot older and I'm sure you can learn something from that."

With relief, I gave the farm pony a big hug. "Thanks Applejack, you're a great reliable friend."

We both began to chuckle and I heard the most beautiful voice call out to me. "Dessie, are you ready to go into town, sweetie?" 

Applejack gave me an expression that told me I had everything under control. I smiled back and went to Violet. "I sure am, let's go into town, babe."





During the afternoons, when we left the farm, we always made sure to visit Violet's flower pony friends in town. As we approached, I could see them waving at us and signaling us to come on over.

"Violet, Desert Bat," Lilly said with excitement, "it's nice to see that you two could come see us again. It always fills our heart with joy when one of the cutest couples comes here."

We both turned red and we saw the flower ponies gigging at how easy it was to embarrass us. "Very funny, girls." Violet sarcastically said." Is Posey here too, or is she with her 'friend'?"

The three continued to giggle from that question. I felt that I would never understand their fascination with everyone's love life. "Sorry, but she already went back home with Discord. Why? Do you need to ask her something?"

"Yeah, actually, hold on a moment." Violet suddenly turned to me with a worried look. "Dessie, dear, if it's okay with you, I need to discuss something with Posey on my own. It's kind of a mare's talk. Please don't be upset." 

I wasn't sure what she needed to talk to Posey about, but I took this as an opportunity to go talk to Quibble. "You don't need to ask for permission, beautiful. I understand completely. Besides, I kind of have to do something personal too. I'll see you back at the castle, if that's okay with you?"

My answer was a passionate kiss on my lips. "I'll see you back at home, you handsome stallion." While I was blushing I quickly gave Violet a kiss of my own to make her feel embarrassed - pretty sure it worked.

"See you, my precious mare." We walked off and I decided to go do what I really wanted to today - to go see Quibble. 





I had to walk outside of the main part of the town square, but at last I had arrived at Quibble's library - the Tree of Knowing. It was a large and magnificent tree that clearly shown it survived the passage of time. While parts of it were now hollowed out for shelves, windows, a basement and balcony, this two story library was still full of amazing life. Apparently Princess Twilight used to live here as the librarian, but after her parents' unfortunate death, she had to leave this behind and serve the ponies of Ponyland.

As I opened the golden oak door - something that I found ironic considering the name of another library I remembered being in Ponyville - I saw Quibble shelving a few books. When I first met Quibble, I was surprised that he looked just like he did in my dream. His coat was brownish orange and he had blue eyes, but that was something less interesting than the mane of multiple shades. I had visited the library multiple times before because of Firefly, and it still amazed me that Quibble's mane really was similar to that of a grayscale.

"Hey, Quibble." My appearance caught him off guard and he soon approached me.

"Well, look who we have here. Hey there, Desert Bat, how's it going? Looking for my wife?" Quibble began to shift his eyes in every direction and moved his head to look behind me. "That's odd," I will admit, I  was so oblivious back then that I wasn't sure what he was thinking at that moment, "I rarely see you away from Violet. Did you have your first fight or something?"

I gave him a confused look. Did he really think Violet and I agreed on everything? "You do know that we have had arguments before, right?" I could see him shrug and decided to forget it. "Anyway, we both just had to do something important."

"Sorry to say, but Firefly's already gone on patrol." 

"It's fine. I was actually hoping to talk to you." I could see his expression become more curios. I was becoming a little embarrassed, but I tried my best to express my situation. "You see... it's a little embarrassing, but...well...I've known Violet for almost six months now, and while I want nothing more than to be with her forever, I don't know if it's still too early to propose. How long did it take for you with Firefly? When do you think would be the right time?"

We stood there staring at each other silently for minutes. I thought that, perhaps, this might have been a bad idea, but just before I could tell him to forget it, I heard Quibble begin to crack up. It soon turned to a chuckle, and then became straight up laughter. I thought I would be embarrassed more, but I found myself laughing as well.

"I hate to tell you, but proposing is not always as romantic as you would think, nor is it always a perfectly timed thing." I was giving him my full attention, which he could tell I was. "When I proposed to her, it wasn't some romantic event, I came by to spectate her training sessions and she was just bragging about how awesome she was. She kept saying that she could easily be on her own forever. 

Hearing her say that really upset me, and I knew she was lying. To call her out on it, I walked up to her and asked 'What about me? Don't you want to be with me?' I never saw her so red, or annoyed - and that's impressive with how she can be, am I right? She told me that just because I was her boyfriend for about four months now, it didn't mean she had to rely on me.

When she said that, I told her she was right about that, I then got down on a knee to bow and said, 'Even if you don't need me, I know I need you.' I then asked her to marry me. She was shocked, I can tell you that, and I soon found myself tackled and kissed very aggressively - I could tell that was a yes. It wasn't a very romantic event, and I certainly didn't really plan it at that moment, but I knew I wanted to marry her. It's not really good advice, but all I can say is to think about if this is what you want and, if so, when you feel confident enough, go for it."

"Wait a minute!" I shouted in surprise. "Are you telling me that you proposed to her...from an argument?"

Quibble found himself laughing and walking back to the books to put back on the shelf. "Yeah, pretty much. Though, are you really that surprised? This is Firefly we're talking about, she just loves arguments. Look, you know Violet better than any pony I know. Whatever you do for her will be better than anything any pony else could do. You're practically married to her anyway. At this point you're just making it more official." 

Despite being lost for words, I knew he was right about both. Firefly really did love to argue and Violet and I had a relationship at this point that was closer to a married couple. Being stuck here and afraid to be alone probably connected us even more than we thought. "You're right. Thanks for everything, Quibble. I think I now know what to do."

"Hey, us stallions need to stick together. When you're ready, go claim your mare, Desert....or let her claim you. I still wonder which way it was for me and Firefly." We both shared another laugh and said our goodbyes. I already knew what I wanted even before meeting him, but now I felt I had the confidence to say it.

I flew back to the castle rather quickly, but I didn't see Violet waiting for me. Assuming she was still with Discord and Posey, I flew up to a cloud that was hovering above and decided to lay back and try to relax a bit - it didn't really work.

I wonder when Violet's coming back? I thought to myself. Come to think of it, I wonder what she wanted to ask Posey? I didn't get to hear the rest of her conversation with Sugar Belle. Maybe Sugar Belle told her to ask Posey for relationship advice. Uh...I need to stop thinking about this for a bit. Maybe I can look at some of the clouds or something. That, or at least think about how I'll ask her to marry me. I remained lost in though for a very long time.