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// 68 - Rooftop Rendezvous 
// Story: Mending Light 
// by Kiromancer 
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I couldn't sleep. We'd gotten back to the hotel late after finishing the most wonderful, beautiful dinner of my life. Everything had been perfect, the atmosphere, the food, the lights, and of course, Dusky. The only flaw was in me, that I couldn't ask her the question when the time was right.

The room was dark now, only a sliver of light through the curtains from the full moon. I had never seen anything like the light show over Lunar Lake. The dancing ribbons and sparkles of light had been entrancing, drawing me in to watch for hours as Dusky and I had eaten our dinner, an amazing meal that seemed mundane in comparison to the show on display just for us, out in the middle of the lake.

I’d shared that moment with Dusky, and it would be a memory I would treasure forever after, but still, I felt like I’d screwed up. I’d spent all this time looking for a perfect moment, hoping to surprise Dusky when everything was right, when the moon aligned with the stars. I hadn’t expected that to be literal, but it had happened over the Lake that night, and I’d failed to be ready.

I sighed beneath my breath as I watched Dusky sleep. She was curled up, resting her head against my mane. Her fore hooves were pulled in close to her chest. Her mane was untied, the elastic she used to pull it into a ponytail sat on the hotel counter. It gave her a natural look, wild. Beautiful.

A frown crossed her lips, and I responded in kind. I didn’t like to see her upset, not while she was awake, nor while she was asleep. Though she might not think she was anything special, in my eyes, she was beautiful beyond compare. The poetry that sprung into my mind whenever I looked at her made me want to weep to see her face in turmoil

I leaned my head in, kissing her forehead gently. “You deserve so much, Dusky Down. To have a good, normal life, to go where you please without fear. To see the world and all the beautiful things in it. You just… you deserve to be happy.”

I can’t imagine it would do anything to help, but not for the first time I found myself wishing for my words to guide her somewhere safe. Whatever she was dreaming about, a look of determination fell across her face, and slowly it turned back into a look of peace. I waited to ensure she was alright, then slowly turned back to my thoughts.

I wanted to tell her my plans. I trusted her advice, but she was the one pony I couldn’t tell what I was going to do without ruining it. It made it frustrating and all the dumber that I had failed to ask when the time was right.

The sliver of moonlight called to me. For as stupid as it seemed, the moon was perhaps the only other pony I could trust. It had been a long time since I’d felt the need to talk to her. In the past, I’d always spoken to her when I was alone, and thanks to Dusky, to Mahogany and the others at the Lusty Seapony, it had been sometime since I’d been alone. Maybe it would help clear my mind.

Making sure I didn’t disturb Dusky, I quietly slipped out from beneath the covers of the old wood bed. I snuck over to the desk, grabbing a quill in my wing and a piece of hotel stationary with my hoof, I penned a quick note, just in case Dusky were to wake up. “Need some air. Please, don’t worry. I’ll be back.” I signed the note, and grabbed my flight satchels.

One last look back at Dusky to make sure I hadn’t disturbed her, and I was out of the room, closing the door behind me as quietly as possible.

The hallway was exceptionally quiet, making each of my hoofsteps sound intrusive as I slipped over towards the stairs. I moved down and crossed through the lobby, smiling awkwardly at the pony currently standing behind the counter as I headed towards the door out into the night.

The taxi carriages were all still present, but no pony was there waiting to provide service. Despite it being the middle of the night, it was surprisingly bright out, the moon nearly as bright as the sun on a cloudless day, illuminating everything. Lunar Lake’s limited verticality and clear weather didn’t give me many options, but the moon was big enough in the sky that I just needed an unobstructed view, and the hotel rooftop was as good as any.

Flying up took only a few seconds, and I landed on the roof with ease. No wind, no clouds, the air was perfect. I walked up to the edge of the roof opposite the street, and looked back out over the lake proper.

There were no lights this time, no golden moonlight reflected into the water. The moon hung in the sky over the horizon, nearing the end of its nightly journey.

It was blank, of course. It had been years since the Mare in the Moon disappeared, after the dreadful event with Nightmare Moon. A shiver ran down my spine, thinking of that moment, helpless within the town hall when she'd appeared. The Mare in the Moon herself, but not as I had imagined her. When Princess Celestia returned to the town and introduced her long forgotten, long suffering sister, Princess Luna, that was the pony I had felt like I'd known for years.

My Father once told me that I was named for the second of Celestia's gifts. My eldest sister was named for the sun, and I, for the night. Maybe it was part of why I felt so apart from my family’s expectations. They had expected a colt favored by Celestia. Instead, I was always more comfortable in the light of the moon. Until Princess Luna returned, I simply never had a name or a face to put with the sense of peace I felt when I looked into the night sky.

I wasn't naive enough to think she could actually hear me, of course. It was all for my own comfort. Still, it was somepony to talk to when I had no one else who would listen. I dipped my head respectfully towards the Moon, closing my eyes before I began.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it? I guess... a lot has changed. I'm not even sure how long it's been since I last talked to you, but... I don't know who else to turn to. I... I can't talk to Dusky about this."

I sighed as I sloughed off my flight satchels to reach down inside and pull out the tiny box that was the focus of all my anxiety. I clicked the box open to look at the small setting within. "It's not like I don't trust her... I just... well, it's obvious."

The moon didn't answer, of course.

I laughed at myself, feeling silly about it all. "I just..."

"Night?"

I clapped the box closed in an instant, turning to see Dusky standing several feet away. "I... um, Dusky... I... didn't think I woke you."

She shook her head, looking me over with concern obvious on her face. "Are you okay?"

"I...  yes? I... no. I don't know." I slumped slightly in place, feeling all the worse for worrying her.

She unfolded a wing, reaching out to lift my chin up. "Don't know?"

Nodding, I turned my head to look back at the moon. "I needed... I don't know. I needed s-some time, and... someone to talk with about..."

She brushed her feathers against my face to tilt my head back towards her. "Talk about what, Night? Is something wrong?"

"N-nothing wrong... I just..." I reached up to wipe away tears pooling in my eyes with a hoof. I couldn't lie to her, especially not now. Not like this. "I-I just worry about the things that I can't talk to you about..."

Her ears dropped, a frown crossing her face. "Like what?"

"Like..." I grew quiet, suddenly ashamed. I couldn't look her in the face and say to her that I couldn't talk to her about... I paused. About what?

Nothing. There was nothing. I opened my mouth, and closed it again.

She watched me closely, leaning closer. "Night? Are you sure you're alright?"

I laughed once, feeling a weight lift off of me. I was such a fool to worry, when the answer was right in front of me. Dusky was right in front me. I took a deep breath. "Dusky?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"You know, from the moment I saw you, all I wanted was to be with you. To see you smile, and hear you laugh. I just wanted to make you happy, but I wasn't able to tell you that. It was just chance that we met in the bar that night... maybe fate, but that doesn't matter now. It set me on a path which changed my life."

I looked up at her, seeing her tilt her head curiously before I continued. "I couldn't have walked that path alone, but you were there, and for some reason, you decided to help guide me. The more I learned about you, the more I longed to be with you, and not just in the good times. I want to stand with you in the hard times, to comfort you... to be your Night Light in the darkness."

She smiled.

"We've faced darkness. Time and again, we've seen the worst life has to throw at us, and we've overcome it. We've grown stronger. Together, there's nothing we can't do. I love you. And I look into your eyes, and I know I'm the luckiest stallion in Equestria, because I can see that same love returned."

I reached back into my flight satchel to retrieve the box, holding it in one hoof. "There is nothing that I could deny you. Nothing within my power to give that you cannot have. And nothing you could ask of me that would be too great a task. There is literally nothing in this world I could give you that says how deep my love is, and so all I can offer are shadows, trinkets that pale in comparison to what we have."

I snapped open the lid of the box, revealing the hairpin, crafted into the gear-shape representation of her cutie mark and set with a black diamond in the center. Between each of the teeth was a small blue sapphire, and Dusky's face fell from a smile into a shocked surprise.

"Dusky. Dusky, please, will you do me the honor... the privilege, of allowing me to spend the rest of my life with you." I swallowed the lump in my throat, feeling my heart beat out of my chest as I finally said the words. "Dusky Down, will you marry me?"

She stared down at the hairpin for only a moment before she looked back up at me. I could each heart beat in my chest. One. Two. Three.

"Yes." She croaked out a whisper, before she broke into a wide smile. "Yes, Night Light, I... yes!"

She lunged, wrapping her forehooves around me and kissing me firmly on the lips.

I barely comprehended it at first, excitement and terror rising within me for an eternity before I finally recognized that she'd answered, and by then, her lips were already pressed against mine. I wrapped my wings around her as tightly as I could manage and blissfully returned the kiss.

Lunar Lake as a town of incredible wonder. A beauty beyond imagining. The light show over the lake was once in a lifetime. Yet, the moment which I will never forget until the day I die was when I sat upon a mundane rooftop in the earliest hours of the morning, and held the mare who had agreed, against all odds, to become my wife.