Sugarcube Corner, 10 a.m., two weeks after the Conformity incident
"Pinkie?" Spike called out as he entered the seemingly empty room. "Are you there?"
"Just one teensy moment!" her answer came from the back rooms of the bakery. "Gotta wait on those vanilla cupcakes for...ah, there they are now." Metal clattered, and then Pinkie bounced into the front room, balancing a tray of various baked goods. "Oh, hi Spike. What can I do for you?"
"You've been planning that 'Back Up and Running' party for over a week now. I wanted to check whether anything had gone wrong with it," the dragon replied.
"Don't worry. I just want to make sure this is the most super awesome spectacular party Ponyville has ever seen." Pinkie set down the tray and smiled. "Why are you asking?"
Spike scratched one foot along the floor nervously. "I have something big planned for that party, and I really need to know when exactly you'll be ready."
"Something big?" Pinkie's eyes narrowed. "Why do I get the feeling we should talk about this in private?" Before Spike could answer, she grabbed him with one hoof and pulled him down the stairs into the cellar, shoving him into a small, rather dusty room. "What exactly is the plan?"
"I don't want to spoil too much. It's a surprise, you see." Spike fidgeted with his claws.
"Spikey, you know how much I love surprises, but if you want to do this at my party, I need to know all about it." Pinkie started a familiar set of gestures. "I Pinkie Promise you that I won't tell anypony else."
"Okay." He breathed out slowly. "You're only the third pony to know, but I want to ask Apple Bloom to marry me."
Pinkie Pie seemed ready to go off like a rocket, seemingly remembering at the last second that that wasn't a good idea in an enclosed space. "Woo-hoo! This is so fantastic! Can I plan the wedding party? Can I, can I, can I?"
"One thing at a time, Pinkie, please," Spike answered, feeling a grin tug at the corners of his mouth. "First the proposal, everything else can wait. If she says yes." At the last sentence, he abruptly felt the nervousness and doubt returning.
"Of course she will, duh! Now tell me, what exactly do you have in mind?" Pinkie produced a clipboard and a pen, seemingly out of nowhere, and looked at Spike expectantly.
***
The 'Back Up and Running' party, Ponyville Town Hall, five days later, 9 p.m.
Apple Bloom was feeling a bit under the weather.
She wasn't sure why, because everypony else at the party seemed to be having the time of their lives. As she sat in the corner nursing a glass of cider, she observed the various couples on the dancefloor.
There was Derpy, dancing away with wild abandon, not exactly in time to the music, but still so overflowing with joy that Apple Bloom felt a smile coming on, in spite of her resolution to feel miserable or at least bored. Dinky was tearing up the dancefloor herself, along with Pipsqueak, casting exasperated glances at her mother from time to time, yet Apple Bloom knew better than to take those looks seriously. She had seen Dinky when they returned, beaming with pride at the sight of her mother in the ranks of the Elements.
Apple Bloom's gaze wandered to Sweetie Belle, who had been dancing all night with every stallion who didn't get out of her way fast enough, and then to Scootaloo, who was doing some weird mix of dance routine and flight exercise with Gilda and Rainbow Dash as her wingmares, the black gemstones on the griffon's eyepatch glittering in the spotlights. Apple Bloom still wasn't sure what, if anything, would become of Scoots and Gilda, but for now, they seemed to be having fun.
There was her brother, trying out more dance moves on this one night than he had in his life, and beaming all the while, Fluttershy never far away from him. Apple Bloom sighed, nearly melting into the bench, just as Big Macintosh looked her way. He winked at her and grinned, mouthing something that Apple Bloom thought she recognized as 'This is gonna be great!'. Strange.
Trixie had taken a place on one of the benches, similar to Apple Bloom herself, seemingly content with simply observing. Apple Bloom still wasn't sure what to think of the showmare, but she had proven herself against Conformity, and that had to count for something.
The young earth mare sighed. She knew exactly why she wasn't feeling in the mood for this party. The reason was a good deal taller than her, with purple scales and green spikes. Her coltfriend had excused himself immediately after they had arrived, muttering something about 'finishing touches', and she hadn't seen him since. Where could he have got to?
The music died down, and Pinkie leaped into the spotlight that had just gone up on the stage at the back of the hall. "Friends, former friends, enemies, former enemies, and politely disinterested neutrals - welcome to the 'Back Up and Running' party for all the Elements!" A cheer rose from the assembled ponies. "We're here to party, but that's not the only reason. There is someone up here, behind the curtain, who has a very special announcement to make." Mutterings went up among the crowd, and Apple Bloom's gaze met her brother's.
He looked curious, but not surprised. He knows, she realized with a jolt. Whatever's coming, he knows about it.
Pinkie interrupted her train of thought. "Fillies and gentlecolts, allow me to welcome our special musical guest for tonight. All the way from Coltshinau, Maredova: Mr. Pasha Prancefeny!"
The curtains parted to reveal a young unicorn stallion with a bright yellow coat, his red and blue striped mane complemented by a short beard in the same colours. He looked rather funny, Apple Bloom thought, particularly with the backing dancers arrayed behind him, whose outfits would probably drive Rarity into a fit by the end of their first song - a riot of colours that went beyond garish into outright eyesores.
And then the second curtain went up, revealing the stage backdrop, and Apple Bloom thought for a moment she must have gone insane, because there was no way - no way in Tartarus and the Spaces Between - that there really was a huge picture of herself and Spike up there.
I'll kill him. I'll grab him and drown him in icy water. Spike had to be behind this, yet she couldn't for the life of her figure out why he would do something like that.
The lights in the hall went out, and spotlights illuminated the painting, which Apple Bloom now recognized as a scene from Rarity's wedding a few months back - you could see the bride and Fancy Pants in the background, rendered lovingly in every detail, yet not taking a thing away from the foreground of her and that dragon.
The music started, and under more normal circumstances, Apple Bloom would probably have burst out laughing at the ridiculous prancing going on - this was less of a dance routine and more of a vaudeville act. But her eyes were still glued to that backdrop - until she noticed the first lines of the lyrics, coupled with the fact that the singer was looking directly at her.
At the wedding tonight
She looks nicer than the bride
When she smiles I forget my lyrics
I got blind, I got mad
Not from the diamonds she had
But from the beauty that put my heart on fire
Apple Bloom's breath caught in her chest. Had this been written specifically for her? And if so, where was Spike? And what was the point of it all?
The chorus started.
You have never been to my show
You haven't seen before
How looks the trumpet
But the sound goes straight to your soul
Gets you out of control
This trumpet makes you my girl
The trumpet solo that had started the song rose again, and there he was, working away at the brass instrument like he'd never done anything else in his life. When he was done, he smiled at Apple Bloom from behind the trumpet, and suddenly everything clicked into place. She knew him better than almost anypony else, perhaps even better than Twilight, and he'd never do something this ridiculous in public without a plan - a stupid plan, perhaps, not entirely thought out, but a plan nonetheless.
He had planned this.
It had something to do with her.
No, she thought, even as her heart threatened to leap out of her mouth and fly away. This can't be.
This trumpet makes you my girl, the final chorus rang out across the stunned audience, and then everything on stage went dark - everything except for the dragon with the trumpet, who now lowered the instrument and grabbed the microphone. "Thank you, everypony. As most of you have probably realized, this performance was a surprise for a very special somepony in my life. We've been through a lot together, and I believe it's time for us to take the next step, the one that's more intimidating than facing off against unspoken horrors and corrupted goddesses."
A single spotlight shone down on the audience, and Apple Bloom took a second to realize that it was aiming straight at her. She could dimly make out Pinkie and Twilight at the controls, apparently giggling like schoolfillies, but her mind and eyes were focused on Spike, who was shifting to a tone of mock formality. "Apple Bloom, youngest of the Apple Siblings, Element of Confidence, are you willing to share your life with this sorry excuse for a dragon?" He dropped the mask, and she saw that he must be a quivering mess inside, probably feeling even more nervous than she was.
Spike dropped to one knee. "Will you marry me, Apple Bloom?"
The silence that followed couldn't have lasted long, but it certainly felt like an eternity to Apple Bloom. She could sense all the assembled ponies holding their breaths. Come on, he asked you a question. You have to answer.
"Yes."
It was so quiet that even Fluttershy could have learned a thing or two about whispering from it. But then Apple Bloom felt something inside her break open, and suddenly she was on the stage next to Spike, hugging and squeezing and kissing him while repeatedly yelling "yes!" at the top of her lungs.
The lights came back on, and the audience erupted in cheers. For Apple Bloom, though, the huge hall might as well have been completely empty. The one person that counted at this moment was right in front of her, grinning from one side of his face to the other, and she knew she must look pretty much the same right now.
"Would you say it again?" he whispered into her ear. "I think there might be a pony or two in Canterlot who didn't hear you."
"You're absolutely impossible, you do know that?" she replied, trying to frown for a second and then giving up as her mouth pulled back up into a smile. "Yes, Spike. I will marry you. Because despite all this, and although you drive me mad sometimes, I love you."
Words no longer seemed necessary at this point, so they proceeded to other means of communication, losing themselves in those for a while until the yellow unicorn - who, Apple Bloom realized in horror, had been standing right next to them all this time - lightly tapped Apple Bloom's shoulder and pointed at the audience, smiling. "Perhaps you want to go somewhere else for that?"
Extinct volcanoes could have been re-lit with the glow on Apple Bloom's and Spike's cheeks. The dragon scratched his neck uneasily. "Heh, sorry. I guess I got carried away a bit."
Before the situation could get any more uncomfortable, Apple Bloom felt a rush of air, followed by a sense of dizziness. She looked around, realizing that they were back in the fields at Sweet Apple Acres. "Whoa! What happened?"
"Twi got us out of there," Spike answered, dusting himself down, checking for scorch marks and then looking back at his fiancée. "I owe her for that."
"Yes, we do." Apple Bloom made her way for the farmhouse, blanching as she reached the door. "Oh Celestia."
"What?" Spike stared at her in alarm. "What's wrong?"
"Gran wasn't at the party. Said she wasn't feeling well. Which means..."
Spike pressed a hand against his forehead. "We need to tell her tomorrow morning. Oh joy."