“Did you know it’s been two years since we first met?” Static asked, looking across the picnic blanket at where Fluttershy lay, a glass of wine balanced delicately between her yellow forelegs as her eyes widened. Crystal was already asleep between them, having tired herself out chasing the butterflies that had flittered about by the pond.
“Oh, my! Has it been so long already?” Fluttershy exclaimed, a fond blush and smile turning her cheeks red. “It doesn’t feel like it, does it?”
“No, but I can’t say that I’ve ever been as happy as I am right now.”
Shy smirked at her, giving her a raised eyebrow as she teased her marefriend. “Even with all the times we-”
It was Static’s turn to blush, her hoof flying up to her lover’s mouth and covering it quickly. “You really want to talk about that with Crystal right here?”
Shy sighed, shaking her head to dislodge the unwanted hoof on her muzzle. “The price of parenthood.”
Static nodded, fidgeting a little. “Uh...so….two years. It’s a long time. A….a lot’s changed.”
“Yes, it has. If you’d asked me then if I thought I’d ever find a special somepony, or raise a foal, I would probably have laughed.”
“Yeah, eheh, yeah.” Static rubbed the top of her head uncomfortably, an uncomfortable lump catching in her throat. “Yeah. Uh…..if I’d have been told that I’d be dating a renowned hero, and be mom, I’d have laughed in their face...for, obvious reasons.”
“I’m glad no one asked.” Shy said. “I might have gotten all worked up and worried about it.” She adjusted her position a little, so that her wings were properly tucked by her sides. “And I’m glad we decided to have our picnic here! It’s always so beautiful at night!”
Static nodded her agreement, looking around at the familiar scene.
It was a pond in a park, surrounded by thick trees and bushes, and known only to a very few. Cat-tails and reeds grew in abundance around the banks, and the moon turned the water a dazzling silver as it’s light was reflected out of it, casting interweaving bands of light all across the clearing. They had come here before, three months after they had met, on their first date.
Static gulped. She’d faced down a pony eating yeti, and Queen Chrysalis herself, and had been so focused on surviving and fighting that her fear had barely registered, or had been overlooked in order to stay alive.
Now, though, she was shaking like a leaf.
“Just take the dive, girl….” She murmured to herself, before she began to speak. “Y’know, I’ve been thinking a lot about…...us.”
Fluttershy cocked her head to the side. “What about us?”
“About what you mean to me. And…..where I want to go from here.”
“Where we want to go? What do you mean?” Shy asked, ears twitching.
“Will you marry me?” Static whispered. She turned her head away for a moment and made several ridiculously angry expressions, trying to guilt herself, or perhaps scare, herself into doing what she had come here to do.
“Sorry, what was that?” Fluttershy asked, bending a little closer in order to hear Static better. “You were very quiet….huh, usually other ponies are saying that to me”
Static gulped audibly, breathing deeply in and out a few times as she tried to pluck up her courage from where it had dropped to the floor. “I asked you if you wanted to marry me…….?”
“Um…...one more time.”
Static braced herself, shook her head in frustration at herself, before planting her hooves beneath her, straightening her back, and bent down on her forelegs, presenting a small, velveteen box to her beloved Shy.
Shy looked at her marefriend for a moment. Then at the box. Then back at Static. Then the box. “Is…..is this what I think it is?” She asked, her lip quivering and eyes wider than dinner plates.
Static nodded, her mane tumbling out of place a little from the sudden motion. “Y-yes….Fluttershy…...nothing would make me happier today…..than if you said yes…..when I ask you the most important question I’ll ever ask.” Static closed her eyes, held the box out in front of her, and, with shaking hooves and voice, flipped open the box. “W-w-will you m-marry me?”
Fluttershy squealed in delight, instantly going from reclining on the ground to bowling Static over, waking up Crystal in the process, and sending the two mares tumbling down the embankment together, before splashing into the frigid cold pond with squeals of shock and subsequent panic. “GAH!!!! THE RING!!! NO NO NONONONOO!!!!! WHERE IS IT!!? I CAN’T BELIEVE I’VE LOST THE RING ALREADY!!!”
“I’ve found it!!”
“Oh, quick, give it here!!! I- I brought a rag to clean it just in case something happened!!”
“Did we bring towels?”
“No, we did-!! AH!! DON’T DO THAT!!! THAT’S COLD!!!”
“But I want to hug you!!!!”
“AHAHAHA!! THAT TICKLES!!! STOP IT!! WE’RE GETTING SOAKED!!!!”
“We’re soaked already!! Just shut up and kiss me!!”
“You’re the worst!!!”
“That’s why I’m saying yes!”
Static and Shy stopped splashing around for a moment, staring at each other with dripping wet faces and bright red cheeks again. “Y-you mean it?”
“Of course I mean it! What, did you think the last two years was a fluke? You’re stuck with me now!” Fluttershy cooed, giving Static a boop on the nose.
“I dunno, Luna and I seem to get along pretty well- OW! HEY, I WAS JOKING!!!”
“I know, but you deserved it.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Shall we get back out of the water now?”
“Uh….is Crystal awake?”
“She’s back to sleep now, I think….”
“Well….we could stay in here for a bit. I’ve gotten used to it now….”
“Yeah. We can get warm later. Right now, we can have some fun.”
“You are so awesome, you know that?”
**************************************************
“WAHOOOOOO!!!! YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!” Pinkie screamed, throwing confetti around the room like it was the Fourth of July. “YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER!!!! HUUUUUUUUUUUU-AAAAAAA!!!! YOU’RE GONNA NEED CAKE AND BALLOONS AND- MMmmmmmm!!!! MMMmmm-mmmmmmm-mmmm-mmmmmmmm!!!”
“Pinkie, please calm down. Much as I’m glad you’re so excited, I’d like for me and my Fiancée to not have to learn sign language just to have a conversation.” Fluttershy said, thankfully shooting a smile Rainbow’s way for plugging the party pony’s mouth with a party hat. The prismatic pegasus gave a grin in return. She’d learned not to use her hoof to shut Pinkie up a while ago.
The friends were once again sat around the map table in Twilight’s castle, though the two engaged mares had elicited a few laughs when Static had decided that she would simply sit on Fluttershy’s lap the entire time, instead of draw up a non-throne chair from somewhere else. Shy didn’t seem to be bothered at having her there.
“Well, you two sure look happy!” AJ chirped, brushing the confetti off of her hat and out of her mane with a hoof, before nonchalantly flipping the stetson back onto her head with practiced ease. She and Rarity were sharing a platter of cupcakes between them, though Rarity had insisted that Pinkie make some low fat, low sugar ones, because she was supposed to be on a diet. Nopony bothered telling her she was eating the wrong ones. “You gals decided on a date yet?”
“Or where you’ll have it?” Twilight asked. “Or who will perform the ceremony?”
“OR WHO WILL DESIGN YOUR DRESSES?!” Rarity squealed, happily.
Everyone just stared at her.
“You honestly thought we’d ask anypony else?” Fluttershy asked.
Static snorted back a laugh. “I don’t think I could trust anypony else!”
Rarity started excitedly clopping her hooves together like a little filly, hopping up and down a little in her seat. “OOoooooooh, thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I won’t let you down!!! I promise only the best!!”
“Well that’s good. If it was anything less than your usual excellence, I’d be worried that you’d been replaced by someone else!”
Rarity stared at Static for a moment, before looking pointedly at her friends. “None of you ever tell her about that first fashion show!”
“Too late.” Applejack chuckled.
“YOU TOLD HER?!” Rarity shrieked in outrage. “HOW DARE YOU!! SNUGGLE PRIVILEGES REVOKED!!”
“Awww, come on Rare. She don't care. And, it was pretty funny. Well, after you fixed everything it was.” Applejack pleaded with puppy dog eyes.
Rarity glared at her in seething silence for a moment. "Fine. Snuggle ban rescinded." Rarity leaned in dangerously close to Applejack, until her sapphire eyes met AJ's emerald ones, barely an inch away from each other. "But you're on thin ice, missy."
Applejack, just grinned, and gave Rarity a cheeky kiss on the nose, making the white mare blush brightly, and prompting an interruption.
“Yeah, I don’t care about that. If anything, it shows your dedication. Another reason to trust that you’ll do great.” Static said, quickly. “As for where…. I’m actually not sure…..” She looked down at Shy, who looked back up at her with a fond, but unsure expression.
“We could do it here-”
“FRIENDS!!”
“GAH!!!”
“HOLY SHIT!!!”
“SWEET CELESTIA!!!”
Static had leapt high into the air at the sudden, booming voice that burst into the room, followed closely by Princess Luna, who was positively beaming in delight at something. “MY FRIENDS!!!” She continued. “DID I HEAR CORRECTLY!! THOU HAST PROPOSED TO THE SWEET, FAIR FLUTTERSHY!?!”
While the ponies at the table winced and rubbed their ears at the sustained volume, Static came crashing back down with a thump and a groan. “O-ooowwww…..” She propped herself up on her elbows and stared up at her mentor’s excited face. “Uh...yes….last night….”
“OH, JOYOUS DAY!!! YOU MUST ALLOW ME TO OFFICIATE!!”
The ponies once again winced and rubbed their ears, making little noises to themselves to check if their ear-drums had burst or not.
“Uh, Luna?”
“YES?”
“Would you mind turning down the volume a bit? I think my ears are bleeding.”
Luna blinked, looking a little stunned as she realized how loud she had been being. “Oh…..my apologies, my friends….I was rather….overexcited….”
“WHAT?! I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER ALL THIS RINGING!!” Twilight yelled, shaking her head, dizzily.
“I think my ears just gave birth to a house alarm….” Rainbow moaned, clutching her head.
“WHAT HAPPENED TO EVERYPONY’S VOICES? ARE WE IN SPACE OR SOMETHING?” Applejack bellowed.
Rarity slammed her hoof into her forehead in embarassment, having cast a silencing charm around her head when Luna came in. “To think ponies call me loud….”
“WOOOOOO!!!! WHY ARE WE YELLING!?!?” Pinkie screamed, to no one in particular.
Luna frowned, and her horn flashed. Every single pony who hadn’t cast a silencing charm felt their ears pop at once, hooves flying up to their fragile hearing orifices and groaning aloud. “Ooofff….that don’t feel good….”
“Now...where were we?” Luna asked, making sure that she didn’t deafen them all again.
“Uh….choosing a date, a place and an officiator?” Static proposed. She and Shy had traded places, the butter coloured mare now sat on her lap instead.
“Ah, yes.” Luna gave a quick cough to clear her throat, before she put her right hoof forward, bowing her head low to her engaged student and her fiancée. “I, Luna, Princess of Equestria, Ruler of the Night and Guardian of Dreams, your teacher and friend, do submit my candidacy to officiate your betrothal ceremony, whenever it may be.”
The two mares looked at each other with a smile, then back to Luna. “You’re hired.”
“OH, JOY- Uh….I mean, oh, joyous day….” Luna quickly corrected her over excitement and lowered her voice to more suitable levels.
“Okay, now we just need the place and the time.” Static listed the items off, holding up two of her primary feathers in a quick checklist.
“Spring. I’d like it to be in the Spring.” Fluttershy supplied, and Static grinned, folding a feather down.
“Well, Spring time is almost half over now.” Twilight frowned, working the logistics of the wedding’s scheduling. “We’d have two weeks to plan at most, if we held it this year.”
“Next spring then.” Shy said, simply. “We can wait that long, can’t we?”
“I can.” Static said, reaching up and giving Shy a quick peck on the cheek.
“We can hold it in Canterlot. Princess Luna and I can arrange it.” Twilight offered, eyes twinkling brightly at the thought of organizing such a personal, intimate event.
“That sounds wonderful!!” Fluttershy cried, then balked at the thought of Canterlot and its history with weddings. Not to mention snobby crowds. “Uh...do you think it’s a good idea though?”
Luna cleared her throat, giving the pair of ponies a wry smile. “As a Knight of Equestria, and as a Duchess of Equestria, you are both more than welcome to be married in the castle itself, with as many or few guests as you like.”
“Really?” Static asked. “Huh. I did not know that.”
“So….last week of Spring sound like a good time to hold the ceremony?” Twilight asked, having already whipped out a calendar and several notepads, and a small army of quills. Spike sat beside her, furiously scribbling away at a notepad of his own.
The two mares once again exchanged a look, to confer wordlessly with one another. “That sounds perfect. Gives us as much time as we need to get this done right.”
“Great!! Me and Spike will get started brainstorming right away!!” Twilight chittered, happily, grabbing up a protesting Spike in her magic and carrying him away in a purple blur.
“NOOOO!!!! My notes!!!” Spike wailed as he vanished from sight. “Pinkie and I hadn’t finished playing Hang-mare!!”
There were more than a few laughs at that. “Guess we’ve lost them two for the day!” AJ chuckled.
As the group began to drift off into less and less related topics, Pinkie suddenly chirped up. “Hey, I’m getting a Pinkie Sense!!!”
Every other pony in the room ducked instantly, diving either under a table or a chair.
“No, no, sillies!! That’s a twitchy tail!! This is a itchy flank and floppy ear combo!! It means somepony has forgotten something important!!”
“That could be for anyone, miss Pie.” Luna laughed, relieved, but still glancing up at the ceiling, just to be sure. “I’m sure it will be fine.”
“Eh, I guess you’re right! Come on! We gotta celebrate your engagement! It’s time to party!!” Pinkie squee’d bouncing out of the room, closely followed by everypony else.
“I could go fer a drink o’ cider right now.” Applejack agreed, with Rarity nodding along.
“A martini, I think, would suit me right now.”
“Give me that good sweet cider too!” Rainbow cheered, streaking out of the door, with Luna stepping up beside her.
“Do they still do mulled wine here? The palace staff has been catering my old habits a lot lately.”
Fluttershy and Static extricated themselves from their throne and trotted towards the doors, shaking their heads with a fond sigh. “Whatever would we do without these nut-cases, Shy?”
Fluttershy took a moment to ponder up an answer as her hoof rested on the door out of the room, before giggling, and pushing it open as the pair stepped outside, letting the portal shut on it’s own. “Be very bored, I’d imagine.”
“Yeah. Let’s go get Rose, Zeph and Crimson in on this. We shouldn’t leave ‘em out.”
“Well, we’ll still need a babysitter.”
“Yeah, I know. Ooh! How about the CMC? They always behave when it’s you asking. They’ll do great!”
“I’d rather still have a house to get home to tonight……”
The door swung shut with a soft thunk, leaving the room once again empty.
********************************************************
“Why do I feel like we forgot something?” Spike asked, as Twilight hummed away, chalk scratching away across the surface of the chalkboard as she went over the precise calculations that went into planning the wedding of two of her best friends, and all the things that wedding would need.
“It’s probably nothing Spike, just relax. We have an entire year to get ready for this!”
“That sounds awfully familiar…..”
Twilight stopped writing her various ideas down, and turned around to look at him. “It does? Oh yeah, that does sound very familiar actually. Now who said it, and what was it about? Hmmm….let me think….. ” The Purple mare tapped the piece of chalk floating in her magic against her chin a few times, before noticing the chalk dust it left on her coat and on the floor below….next to an awful lot of other chalk dust. She’d been using another chalk board today to plan……
Twilight’s eyes went wide as she remembered what she had forgotten. “Spike…..we may have a problem….”
“You remembered what it was we were forgetting?”
“Yes, and it’s bad. Oh, this is very, very bad! Stupid Twilight! Silly, silly Twilight!! How could you forget?!”
Spike hopped off of his stool and quickly navigated between two stacks of books that were in his way, before remembering his wings and facepalming. “What is it?” He asked again. “Tell me!”
“We’re already planning something for the end of Spring, Spike! Something Princess Celestia herself tasked us with!!! We’re going to have to plan both around each other!! I can’t just let down Shy and Static, or the Princess!!” Twilight’s voice had risen several octaves, and her mane was suddenly more closely resembling a mess of brambles than her perfect mane-cut.
“Just tell me what it is!!”
“THE FRIENDSHIP FESTIVAL!! WE FORGOT ABOUT THE FRIENDSHIP FESTIVAL!!”
*****************************************************