“Thank you for your patience, the Duchess will be here to receive you shortly.”
Both father and daughter nodded at the maid, who bowed and closed the door gently behind her. There was beat of silence before the older stallion sighed, leaning slightly against the couch as his shoulders slumped with relief.
“Well, this is it Starlight, are you excited?”
Starlight Glimmer didn’t relax on the cushions like her father, but sat still and proper as she looked at him and smiled, but it looked more like a grimace.
“As much as I could be, given the circumstances.”
Her father looked sadden but didn’t try to counter her verbal jab, he simply reached out with his magic and the tea cup in front of him floated to his muzzled as he took a sip of the beverage. “Starlight,” he said gently, pausing for a moment as he gathered his thoughts and settled the cup on the table. “I know that this isn’t exactly what you wanted, but I…”
“It’s fine,” cut off Starlight. “Let’s…let’s just focus on getting through this.”
There was so much she wanted to say, but the words clogged her throat and made her head spin. It was a miracle she managed to choke out that small quip, if only because she couldn’t stand another pity speech from her father. His last one had been convincing enough to drag her for this “interview” and she didn’t want to give him any more leeway than she already had.
Firelight nodded and patted her hoof. “That’s my girl.”
Starlight didn’t answer and looked out the window. It was closed, the curtains were drawn apart, letting the natural light in and Starlight could see the gardens beyond. The place looked beautiful from where she sat and she longed to walk through it, wanting to see what kind of flowers were in bloom, if any at all. She only had a glimpse of the greenery when she arrived earlier that morning, she thought she saw gardenias or white roses in the distance, but she had been taken inside before she could look any further.
“I wonder what’s keeping her,” mused Firelight out loud and glance at his pocket watch, “I hope everything is alright.”
“Maybe she’s busy today,” Starlight said trying to keep the hope from her voice. “We should just go and come back at another time.”
“No Starlight, I know the Duchess, she’s very punctual and organized…sometimes to a fault.”
There was a slight commotion on the other side of the white wooden doors, it sounded like two ponies arguing, both trying and failing keep their voices low with harsh whispers, neither Starlight or Firelight could make out what was being said but the tone of voice used was unmistakably angry and annoyed.
There was a bit of scuffling of hooves, another harsh whisper and then a momentarily silence. There was a knock on the door and an older mare followed by a younger stallion walked in to the room.
Her father stood and bowed, Starlight following suit. “Duchess Stellar Flare, it’s a great joy to see you again after so many years.”
“Likewise, Sir Firelight, but please just call me Stellar Flare, none of this Duchess nonsense from my closest friend.”
Firelight smiled and nodded, reaching out a hoof to take Stellar Flare’s own and giving it a quick kiss. Starlight watched with barely contained curiosity, thinking if they were on such good terms, why didn’t they get married instead of pushing the responsibility on to their children? Speaking of which…
She risked a glance at the other stallion in the room, their gazes met for a moment before looking away, embarrassed by being caught by the other. She only managed to catch a hint of messy red hair and dark blue eyes.
“My, is this little Starlight?” Said the Duchess, Starlight look up just as the Duchess took her in with a hug. “Look at you! You’re so big now!”
The Duchess grip was tight and she barely managed to squeak out a reply. “I—uh— Thank you, ma’am.”
“It’s been years since I last saw you,” Stellar Flare said as she released her, looking at her and giving her a warm maternal smile. “You look just like your mother, when she was your age.”
The mention of her dear mother caught her off guard, prodding an old wound that would never fully heal, she swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and smiled thinly. “Thank you, did you know my mother?”
“Know her!? Oh sweetie! We were practically inseparable as foals; we got into all sorts of trouble and drove our poor parents crazy with our adventures! I was the one with the plans but your mother was a go-getter, nothing stood in her way when she wanted something, so when she set eyes on your father, well, the poor fellow had little choice in the matter, which reminds me…” Stellar Flare motioned for the young stallion to step forward. Which he did with great reluctance. “This is my son: Sir Sunburst Zenith! You two used meet up every summer when you were little, remember?”
Starlight did, even if those memories were hazy at best.
It was a happy time, anytime when her mother was alive and healthy was a happy time for her, regardless of what was actually going on. She recalled a charming cottage with a river and a pond in the yard, surrounded by tall pine trees with moss on their barks, and little paths that she would walk as she trailed behind a young pony.
The Duke in her memories was a small colt, even smaller than her for his age, who was soft spoken and always had a book with him, which he would use to hide his face from the world and ignore her. Maybe that was the reason she couldn’t remember him all that well and why now, years later, she was studying his features so unapologetically.
Obviously, he’d grown and she had to raise her head to look at him properly; he was taller than her now, maybe even a little taller than her father. His red hair was long and messy, though some attempt had been made to control the rebellious mop of hair, while his yellow coat had been brushed and washed until it reached a glossy sheen. Sitting on his muzzle were a pair of round glasses, something he didn’t need when they were younger, framing his blue eyes and completing the look of a scatterbrain scholar he’d grown to be.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Sir Zenith.” Starlight said and bowed, breaking the eye contact as she lowered her head.
“The pleasure it’s all mine, Lady Glimmer.” He said, there was a nervous tinge to his words and Starlight wondered why.
With introductions out of the way, the group sat and discussed details for the upcoming engagement and wedding. Firelight and Stellar Flare leading the conversation while their children said nothing.
It was the parent’s idea after all.
Starlight watched the stallion seated in front of her, and when their eyes met this time she didn’t look away, simply offered a friendly smile.
Starlight knew that this day would come, ever since she was a little filly. Her parents made it no secret that she been promised to another, they told her before she even knew what “being promised to” meant, and by the time she did she couldn’t bring herself to completely oppose the idea. However, she kept her expectations low and tried not to have any romantic delusions, this was only another business deal, she told herself, like everything else her family did.
Her family was one of the few families that had made its fortune through hard work and smart business decisions, something that Starlight was immensely proud of, but her humble origins were look down upon by most of Canterlot’s high society.
Starlight didn’t care, even if it meant limiting her social circle to just a hoof-full of friends, but her father did. He worried about what would happen to his daughter once he was gone, even though he was confident that she could continue the family business, it would be hard if she was still unmarried and ignored by those that could help her. He’d seen it first hoof when he married Starlight’s mother, who had been born to a noble family and had to give up her title in order to be with him.
Back then his business was just starting and barely turning in a profit, and when they married and his trade took off his wife’s family still refused to acknowledge their union, even now that he was richer than all of them combine. The damaged was done and she’d been shunned by all those she once called family.
Her mother told her time and time again that she never regretted her decision, but maybe she wanted to protect her daughter from the backlash she’d suffered in the early days of her marriage, or maybe Firelight shared his concerns with her and found them valid, never the less, something happen that prompted her to message Lady Stellar Flare, one of the few socialite ponies that didn’t turn her back on her friend when she married Firelight.
At the time, Stellar Flare had just given birth to a foal of her own and she too was worried about his future. Her husband passed away some months before the birth of his son and she’d inherited his title and his lands…along with the massive debts he’d been keeping from her. She was forced to sell most of those lands to settle the debts, leaving her with little income, an empty title and a son who would inherit nothing if she didn’t do something.
Starlight wondered if it happened during a series of correspondences, or during one of the summers she and Sir Zenith were forced to play together, either way the head of each family came to a mutually beneficial agreement: Firelight promised his daughter hoof in marriage to Duchess Stellar Flare’s son, securing the future of both their families.
And now here they were, making good on the promise.
“Oh, Starlight, Firelight was telling me that you like my garden?” Stellar Flare said.
Starlight looked up, startled from her musings. “Yes, I saw them on our way here, it looked beautiful.”
“Why, thank you dear, that garden is my pride and joy, I love showing it off whenever I have the chance, but you will have to pardon me my dear, since there’s still so much to discuss, I can’t give you a personal tour.” Her tone was apologetic but Starlight could see a calculating spark in her eyes as she turned towards her son. “Sunburst, why don’t you show her the gardens? We will catch up once we finish discussing this matter.”
“Of course,” Sir Zenith said and stood up, and with great reluctance Starlight did the same.
She followed him out of the tea room into the wide corridor outside. The house was massive and she was partly glad for his guidance, with her being unfamiliar to this place she would’ve been lost on the first turn she took. Maybe now it was good time as ever to familiarize herself with this place, if she was going to marry the Duke, she would probably move here. The thought brought her disgust instead of joy. She felt like a leech, latching on to her husband-to-be only for his title, but wouldn’t that make him a leech also? Forced to play nice to her only because of her money? Do leeches suck on other leeches? She shook her head to dislodged those confusing thoughts and focused on walking.
She followed him quietly through the corridors, taking in the carpeted floor that muffled their steps, the large windows that let the summer sun in to house, and the occasional art piece that decorated the walls.
Sir Zenith didn’t even as much as glance at them, but Starlight would occasionally slow her steps to admire the art work. She wasn’t a connoisseur of the fine arts; she was simply curious of the bright colors and fantastical sceneries depicted on the canvas. Most of the paintings were of water gardens and she wondered at the Duchess fascination with them.
Finally, they reached a wall with a glass door in it, he opened it and let Starlight pass before following her and closing it behind him with a soft click.
“Wow,” Starlight said, once her eyes were accustomed to the sunlight. “This garden…it’s lovely.”
It didn’t look like any of the gardens that she knew, with straight path ways and perfectly manicured flora, it felt like she’d stepped in to a real forest untouched by pony kind. The trails were marked only because no grass grew on it and it had been cleared of stones, they didn’t cut through the land, instead they move with it, curving around trees and following the outline of the lake in the center of the garden.
The lake and the little island in the center of it was the main attraction of this garden, it was bigger than she expected and she wondered just how big this land actually was. There were water lily’s floating peacefully on the edges, and the water was perfectly still, acting like a huge mirror that reflected the blue summer sky and its fluffy white clouds. She felt like she was standing at the edge of a floating island, or at the borders of Cloudsdale.
“Mother will be pleased to hear that.” He said and watched her as she walked ahead, following silently as she explored the property.
The garden was beautiful and remained so no matter how far she ventured into it, but the experience was somewhat dulled by the company she was keeping. Unlike his mother, the Duke was not a chatter box, opting to silently follow her as they walked, which would’ve been fine if Starlight could find a way to ignore his presence. His steps were too loud, he was always visible from the corner of her eye and she could feel him watching her, making her feel self-conscious of every move she made. Starlight tried to say something to break the awkward silence, but she felt tongue tied and remained quiet.
Starlight turned to her left and spotted a little bench, shaded under the low hanging branches of a willow tree. She walked towards it and sat on the faded marble; she wasn’t tired but the privacy that the tree offered was the perfect place to talk.
Before she could gather her words, Sir Zenith beat her to the punch.
“This is awkward, isn’t it, Lady Glimmer?” He smiled at the mare beside him, he sounded apologetic. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Oh, it’s not like that, Sir Zenith.” Starlight said quickly, startled by his words.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, we should discuss living arrangements and plan how many foals we’re going to have.” His smile faded as he spoke and his tone was serious. “I personally would prefer ten foals, but I would settle for eight.”
She blinked.
Then, Starlight’s face crumpled as she let out a laugh. “Alright, I understand, Sir Zenith, this is definitely awkward.”
“See?” He chuckled and looked out at the peaceful lake. “I know this is our first meeting, but I need to ask you some awkward questions, if you don’t want to answer them I understand, I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”
Starlight smiled and nodded. “Alright, but only if I can also ask awkward questions of my own, and you promise me to answer them honestly.”
The Duke pretended to meditate his answer before nodding earnestly. “That sounds reasonable.” He paused for a moment before asking his first question. “Are you certain you want to move forward with this marriage? I mean, is there some pony else…like a boyfriend? If you want, I can speak to my mother to cancel the wedding.”
Starlight blinked and sat perfectly still, baffled that her groom-to-be would ask such a question.
It was true that this was an arranged marriage, something that had been pushed on to them, their thoughts and feelings never once taken into consideration, only the political and financial gain that such a union would bring to their families. She only knew the Duke as the heir to the Zenith family, but she would never had guessed that he was so…
“That’s very kind of you…” Starlight said with a gentle smile, touched by his thoughtfulness. Not even her father had asked her if she wanted to go through with this marriage. “And I thank you, but I don’t have a boyfriend, sorry to disappoint you.”
Now that she thought of it, the thought of breaking the engagement never crossed her mind.
The Duke smiled, looking somewhat relieved. “Why should I be disappointed? I feel like the luckiest stallion in Equestria.”
She laughed and asked her own question, “What about you? Any special pony I should be aware of?”
“If I had one, do you think I would be offering to break off this engagement?”
“Well, yes, I would like to know now in case I have to fight for your hoof in marriage on our wedding day.”
An image pops up in her mind of her dressed in a wedding gown, fighting a group of mares also dressed in wedding gowns, with the Duke sitting in the corner with a bucket of popcorn and watching the action unfold. They both laughed at the absurd scenario she conjured, and they took a moment to compose themselves before he spoked again.
“Yes, that’s a fair point. Alas, I’m afraid that no other mare has considered me as a suitable match.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but that’s a relief for me, fighting in a gown is near impossible.”
They chuckled and the pair fell into an easy silence, the first one they experience that day. They couldn’t help but feel at ease with the other’s sincerity, the awkwardness between lessening until it was almost none existent. Starlight almost didn’t want to break it.
“How old are you, Sir Zenith?” She suddenly asked, ending the comfortable silence.
“I’m twenty-seven, and you?”
“Twenty-five.” Starlight said and tossed her mane over her shoulder. “Are you sure you want to marry a spinster like me? According to most stallions, I’m already past my prime.”
“Yes,” he said quickly, and Starlight looked at him with a look of surprise. “Honestly, I’m glad our parents waited this long for us to marry. I can’t imagine going through this when I was eighteen.”
“Why would you say that?”
He took a breath before speaking. “I was just an overgrown foal in many ways, fresh out of Magic School, with no direction or purpose…not prepared in any way to take on a wife.”
She did the math in her head and said. “And I would’ve been sixteen.”
Starlight vision herself at that age, recalling a young mare with more anger than sense, orphaned of mother, her father absent due to work, no one to guide her or stop her from making poor choices. If it hadn’t been for her friends, she didn’t know what would have been of her, if she would even be here today.
She pictured that angry mare being forced to marry, and the thought made her wince.
Maybe there was a reason why their parents had postponed the marriage.
“As long as we’re being honest,” Starlight said after a pause, gripping the last of her courage before it fled. “I confess that I’m still very anxious about all…this.” She gestured at the space between them.
“Do I make you uncomfortable?”
“I don’t know, and that’s just it: all my life, I’ve been told that I was to marry you, but all I know is your name and title, I don’t know anything about you.” She explained and her ears lowered slightly as she sighed. “Nothing terrifies me more than the idea of marrying a complete stranger.”
“Lady Glimmer,” Sir Zenith said gently. “If that’s what you fear, then ask me anything you want, anything you want to know, let me help you ease those doubts. I…I can’t promise that you’ll like everything you hear, but I can promise that I won’t be deceitful with my answers.”
Starlight watched him as he spoke. He seem a little nervous, but that just made him appear all the more sincere. To see him so anxious gave her a strange sense of comfort, it made her feel like she wasn’t alone with her fears or going crazy when those around were so collected. She smiled gently and let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
“Thank you so much, Sir Zenith.”
He grinned. “What do you want to know?”
Starlight and the Duke continued on to lighter topics, like the weather, their favorite food, their favorite flower, their favorite color, etc. Time passed without either of them noticing until, when they were in the middle of a debate about Ponisagus impact on magical theory, they heard their names being called in the distance. They instantly recognize the voices of their respective parent.
“Oh my,” Starlight said, looking at the lake and sky tinged in the colors of twilight. “Look how late it is.”
“I’m really sorry Lady Glimmer, I should’ve realized the time.” Sir Zenith said hurriedly, standing from the marble bench, he turned to offer his hoof to Starlight, but she was already standing and dusting off the dust from her skirts.
He drop his hoof with a little reluctance.
“I better get going before my father thinks the worse.”
“Chipmunk cheeks! Where are you?!” Her father yelled in a desperate tone.
Starlight winced. “Too late, he already thinks the worse.”
“I’ll take the brunt of his anger, if it’s any consolation.” The stallion said, guiding Starlight down the path they came from, it was much darker under the cover of the trees so he stayed close at by her side in case she tripped. “But in all seriousness Lady Glimmer, if there’s anything I can do to diverge your father’s anger from yourself let me know.”
“Please don’t fret Sir Zenith, there are few things I can do that would truly upset him, he’s just worried.” She said, ducking under a particularly low branch. “I’ll speak to him, which should calm him down.”
As they walked, the sound of their parent’s voices got louder until they could see them just a few steps away. They were standing in front of the mansion, in the middle of the clearing that separated the garden from the building, with the light of the house pouring from the glass doors onto the ground, outlining their silhouettes.
The young pair stood somewhat hidden in the shadows of the trail. The Duchess spotted them first and waved, causing Firelight to turn and give Sunburst a serious look. The young stallion winced, steeling himself for the boxing his ears were about to receive and stepped forward, only to be stopped when a gentle hoof on his side rested on his shoulder.
“I want three.”
The Duke blinked and looked at Starlight with confusion. “Excuse me?”
“Three foals.” Starlight said, perfectly seriously even if her smile was coy like. “No more, no less.”
Starlight walked away to greet her father and her future mother-in-law; she didn’t notice the blush she’d caused.
“You’re getting married?!”
Starlight Glimmer winced, rubbing her left ear to stop it from ringing. “Could you say that a little louder, guys? I don’t think they heard you in Yak-Yakistan.”
Starlight had invited her three closest friends for their bi-weekly get together in her home in Shire’s Town. Since the four of them lead widely different lives it was rare for the group to be together like this, and Starlight was immensely happy that all of them could make it this time, even if her hearing would never be the same after this. Glancing at her friends sitting on the table with her, she wasn’t surprise by their reactions, never the less their expressions amused her.
Trixie Lulamoon was the funniest by far, being a show pony by heart she had a penchant for being dramatic, and she didn’t disappoint with her answer. She stood on her back legs, her forelegs braced against the table, knocking her chair over with a clatter. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hang open, looking at Starlight like she grown a second horn.
“You’re getting married?” Trixie repeated in a lower tone.
“Yes, is it that hard to believe?”
“Are you asking literally or figuratively?” said a monotone voice.
Maud Pie’s eyebrows rose a quarter of an inch, which was the most movement Starlight had seen in her face for the pass hour. She was the hardest pony to impress, since she rarely smiled or expressed herself, but she was painfully direct with her words, saying exactly what she was thinking in a monotone voice, making it hard to tell when she was joking and when she was being serious.
“Oh my gosh! This is so exciting!” Silverstream said, bouncing slightly in her seat while looking at Starlight with wide eyes. “Do we know him? When can we meet him? How did he propose? Was it romantic? Tell us everything!”
Starlight smiled at the young hippogriff, hating to be the one to break the idealistic delusions she had. Silverstream was young, optimistic and a romantic at heart, believing firmly in the power of true love and happily ever after’s, but she was also old enough to understand that not everyone got them.
There was no way to sugar coat this, she had to tell them the truth.
“Actually, Silverstream,” Starlight said, interrupting her romantic rambling, “this marriage was decided for us when we were very little.”
A beat a silence.
“WHAT!?” Trixie and Silverstream exclaimed; Maud Pie’s eyebrows rose another quarter of an inch.
“You’re marrying a guy you don’t love!?”
“You’re being forced to marry a guy you don’t know!?”
“This is terrible!”
“We have to stop this!”
“How can we help?”
“Trixie’s carriage is in the back! If we run now, we’ll be at the border in—”
“GUYS!” Starlight yelled, cutting through her friend’s desperate chatter. “It’s okay, I’m not being forced, I’ve known about it for years, ever since I was little.”
“For years?” Trixie said and exchanged looks with the others on the table. “Then how come you never told me—I mean, us, about it?”
Starlight smiled sadly and patted her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Trixie, I shouldn’t have kept this from any of you, the engagement just seemed so far away and I didn’t want to alarm you with something I didn’t even had a date set for.”
“Then that means you got a dead line now?” said Maud after a beat of silence.
“The date,” Starlight corrected, giving Maud a pointed look, “is next spring, the engagement party is in two weeks.”
“But who are you marrying Starlight?” asked Silverstream loudly, interrupting the mares staring contest. “Is it some pony we know?”
“His name is Sunburst Zenith, we used to play together when we were foals, though last week was the first time I’ve seen him in years.” She said, omitting the detail about his noble title, she figured she already dropped enough bombshells on her friends for today.
Her friends went quiet, each of them thinking where they had heard that name before, if ever. After a few seconds Trixie gave up and took a sip of her tea, and nearly spitted it out when Silverstream gasped and jumped out of her chair.
“You’re marrying an important wizard!?”
“Oh, I thought I heard that name somewhere.” Maud said unconcernedly and ate another cookie.
“Wait—what? What are you talking about?”
The hippogriff sat back down with an excited grin. “His family is, like, super good at magic, or I think he’s really good at magic? Anyway, he’s written a bunch of books and Professor Twilight says he’s the authority when it comes to spells and stuff like that.”
Starlight looked just as dumbfounded by this news as her friends, probably even more since it never crossed her mind that her fiancé might actually have a job. The nobles she knew only talked about the parties they attended or the latest gossip, she saw from her first meeting with Sir Zenith that he was different in that regard, now she felt like kicking herself for not asking him one of the most basic of questions when meeting some pony new.
Maud set down her tea cup before adding: “Some say he’s the next Star Swirl.”
“In other words: he’s a nerd, my best friend is marrying a nerd.” Trixie said with a huff. “Well, I guess you could’ve done worse than marrying some boring book worm.”
“Yeah, funny how these things just happen,” Starlight laughed nervously and quickly changed the subject. “You can all met him at the engagement party and judge for yourselves, which you are all invited by the way.”
“But, Starlight,” said Silverstream with genuine concern. “It’s arranged marriage…are you sure about this?”
They all looked concerned and Starlight was immensely touched by it, but she didn’t want to explain to them the real reasons behind her engagement. She didn’t think that they would understand, not when they all had grown up with the idea that marriage was something done out of love and devotion. Mares like her couldn’t just marry the first stallion that catch her fancy, she had too much to lose in that regard. Besides, she could see how they would take it the wrong way, when she broke down the reason to its barest of essentials, it all sounded very shallow: He’s only marrying me for my money, and I’m only marrying him for his title.
She should just be happy that her husband-to-be was as gentle and thoughtful as he is, like Trixie said, she could have done much worse.
“I think I’ll be okay,” Starlight said with honesty. “He’s grown up to be a generous stallion, in fact…”
She told them how he was prepared to call off the wedding is she happened to have a boyfriend, they all seemed impressed by his kindness. At least Silverstream and Trixie were, it was hard to tell with Maud.
“If this is what you want Starlight, then we’re behind you one hundred percent!” Said the young hippogriff with a smile.
“Me too,” Maud added in her usual monotone.
They both turn to look at Trixie, who after a few moments finally cave. “Yeah, yeah, power of friendship and all that…just, promise to tell us if something happens? Like, if he snores or he’s secretly a jerk.”
Starlight grinned. “I promise to come to you if he so much as frowns at me, besides, who to better confide in than my own brides’ maids?”
Trixie and Silverstream gasped, and Maud finally cracked a tiny smile. “This should be fun.”
The conversation shifted into impromptu wedding planning, the mood had lightened considerably and Starlight was swept away with the others in their enthusiasm, then she remembered what Silverstream had mentioned and asked.
“By the way Silverstream, do you know the name of any of the books he’s written?”