//------------------------------// // Ch24: RE;arrangement // Story: Equestria: The Afterlife // by Timzocker201 //------------------------------// POV: Markus Okay, first of all: I may be an idiot sometimes, but I am certainly not blind. Of course, I had already noticed that both, Rainbow Dash and Twilight had a thing for me. Especially Rainbow since, you know, she asked me out on a date. The thing is: the feelings are indeed mutual. For both of them. Why didn’t I confess, I hear you ask? Well… euh, I was… scared… Yes, I know, Captain Markus Becker, The Devil of Tehran, EXCALIBUR, scared about a little Romance. You may laugh if you want. Although, me being scared wasn’t my only reason for not saying anything. I also didn’t quite want to decide between the two of them. I mean, I liked them both and I felt that I would just betray myself if I would force a decision from myself. Thus, I decided that I would wait for them to confess to me and just go with the one who did it first. I honestly thought that it would be Rainbow Dash, because, well, she did technically already take the first step. Needless to say, I was at least slightly surprised to have Twilight stand before me first and, to be honest, if it hadn’t been for us building a military training camp, giving me at least a hint of professionality to cling to, I would probably have looked like a tomato. Rainbow Dash followed suit by the end of the day, leaving me even more conflicted than before. You might ask yourself: “Why though? Because Twilight clearly was first, right?” Well, thing is: none of them actually confessed. Instead, they made things even more complicated. They both asked me to meet them… in the same place… at the same time... I decided to get there half an hour early, in order to have some time to think about how to prevent or at least contain the inevitable hailstorm that’s about to descent upon me. I mean: an accidental double-date? That’s about as cliché as it can possibly get, isn’t it? Well yeah, turns out it can get even more cliché, as they even arrived at the same time. Not only that, but they also did and said the same. “Hi, Markus! Hey, wait a second, what is *insert name of the other* doing here? I thought just we two were meeting?” They then proceeded to stare at each other in confusion and, probably, even a bit of rivalry, I guess? I, meanwhile, tried to distract myself from the very uncomfortable situation at hand. Luckily, I found something to find interest in, as I took a look at their backs and sides. Both of them were carrying saddlebags, which seemed to be filled with something I couldn’t see. I didn’t try to find out either, as their bags weren’t what piqued my interest, but what lay underneath: their wings. Of course, having lived in Equestria for over two months now, seeing wings attached to ponies isn’t new to me, but something about their wings in that moment struck me as odd. I couldn’t quite point a finger at it, but somehow they seemed… asymmetrical. We probably were quite the sight, standing there like this. Especially since the meeting point both of them had chosen just-so happened to be Sugarcube Corner at 2pm. Though, the weird looks from the ponies around us certainly was nothing compared to the situation at hand, it only added to my discomfort. After a while, I noticed that Rainbow and Twilight had stopped looking at each other, instead giving me a demanding glare. As I noticed this, I could only laugh humorlessly, scratching behind my head and trying to somehow defuse the situation. The problem was: how would I do that? I’m not really well-versed when it comes to romance and I definitely don’t know, how to manage two angry girls – euh, mares. Still, I had to say something, so in the end, I said the first thing that came to mind: “Ah, well, since we’re all here, why don’t we go inside? I’m craving for some Cupcakes right now.” I said, trying to look as innocent and cheerful as possible, although that probably wasn’t much. We entered Sugarcube Corner and sat down at an empty table in the corner of the room. I sat in the middle, while the two mares placed themselves on either side of me. We placed our orders and, as they arrived, the show began. A short while after starting to eat, Twilight levitated a piece of her Cupcake up, offering it to me. I took it from her magical grasp and flung into my mouth, thanking her with a content hum. Rainbow, meanwhile, wouldn’t let Twilight get ahead of her, plucking a slightly bigger chunk from her Cupcake and offering it with her wing. Twilight then took an even bigger chunk from hers and Rainbow responded with another, yet bigger piece. This went on until both their Cupcakes had vanished into my stomach, while mine remained mostly untouched. Seeing their looks as they noticed this, I cut my cupcake in half, giving one to both of them and hoping to ease their moods a little. However, the only thing it really did was make the situation a lot more awkward. The mood became tense and the air around us felt so thick, I had the urge to chew before breathing. I wanted to ease things up a little, but I didn’t know how, so I simply just proposed that we may get on with the day. Twilight and Rainbow had meanwhile started to glare at each other again, which I had properly ripped them out of. After collecting their thoughts a little, they both nodded and so we paid and left the bakery. Outside, Twilight levitated a scroll from her Saddlebags, starting to list off a few things she would like to do. Rainbow protested, saying that she, too, wanted to do a few things. To this Twilight just retorted that Rainbow wouldn’t need to stick around if she didn’t like it, after which they both fell into an… ‘agitated debate’. After a few arguments back and forth, I finally stepped in, proposing that they could take turns. They both agreed, though I could see their reluctance to do so. Still, that left the question on who would start first and, of course, they both wanted me to decide this. Thankfully, I managed to convince them to just flip a coin, which Twilight had won. The rest of the afternoon then consisted of me being yanked into all kinds of directions, as Twilight and Rainbow both took me through Ponyville, taking me into all kinds of stores and doing all kinds of stuff. Thankfully, they both came to accept each other’s presence, which not only made this whole thing much more enjoyable, but it also meant that I could spend less energy on trying to avoid the fourth world war and instead think about my primary problem. The afternoon went by and I still hadn’t found any way of avoiding the disaster, which was inevitably approaching. Celestia’s sun began to set and Rainbow and Twilight took me to a hill just outside of Ponyville, from where one actually had a very decent view of the sunset. They then both produced picnic blankets and laid them out on the hilltop for us to sit on. Both had also brought various different fruits and even self-made sandwiches, of which I gladly took a few. The Sun continued its descend and we just sat there and watched it. For a moment, I thought that the catastrophe I have been expecting to happen would not happen at all. That belief was crushed, however, as both of them started to rummage through their saddlebags again at the same time. I had to jerk back a bit to avoid having my eyes squashed, as they suddenly turned back around, both holding a small box out towards me. These boxes looked like those you would buy these fancy pens in, only they were much bigger. I opened them and I immediately realized why Twilight’s and Rainbow’s wings had looked so weird earlier. In these boxes were two large feathers, one in blue and one in purple. By their dimensions and shape, I found them to be primary feathers and from there, it didn’t take much for me to figure out what this was meant to be. The act of giving someone the most important type of feathers on your wings could only be one thing. The Pegasus/Alicorn way… of confessing your feelings. I stared down at the two boxes in my hands as I tried to think of a way to properly react to this, but I couldn’t. The feared disaster was finally upon me and I was utterly unprepared. I didn’t say anything, continuing to just stare at the boxes, causing Rainbow to say something. “Ehm, you know, those are… primaries. They are… I mean, they…” She stammered. “I know what they are… and I think I also know what this means…” I trailed off. Silence befell us again, causing both of them to nervously shift in place. “You know… if you don’t feel like this… just say so. I mean, I would understand… you are a human and I—We are ponies…” Rainbow said. She tried to play it cool, but couldn’t hide the worry and uncertainty in her voice. “Oh no, that’s not the problem, Rainbow.” I said. “In fact, I do feel the same… for both of you… and that’s exactly my problem. I can’t decide between of you – I don’t want to decide between the two of you, you know?” Silence, again. A very short-lived silence, however, as Twilight finally spoke up herself. “Why don’t you take both of us then?” “Yeah, if it was that eas—wait, WHAT?” I exclaimed, jerking up to look at Twilight and causing her to twitch back a bit. “Yeah, well, you see:” She started carefully, “We mares outnumber stallions five to one and thus, even though we mostly don’t show it, Polygamy is actually pretty common. Especially with the nobles. So, if Rainbow agrees, I would be willing to share.” She looked over to Rainbow, who frantically nodded in response. I, meanwhile, only looked back and forth between them, trying to comprehend what she had just said. “Really? It’s that easy? Then, does that mean that I was worried for absolute nothing?” I thought. It all came down on me. All the thoughts, the worries, the doubts, all of them were for naught and that just because there was this one little thing I didn’t know. The absurdity of the situation slowly crept through my head, causing my face to contort ever-so-slightly, but I managed to hold myself back. Not for long, however, as I soon started to chuckle, then to giggle and then broke out into outright laughter. I laughed loud and I laughed hard, but Twilight and Rainbow Dash didn’t find it funny at all. Tears started to flow down their cheeks and they blushed heavily. “I know it may sound ridiculous to you, but that doesn’t mean you need to laugh at us!” Twilight cried. They both scrambled to get back on their hooves, but I quickly swept in and pulled them into a hug before they could run away. Their pained looks faded as I pressed them against my chest, causing my shirt to get stained in their tears yet again. “Sorry you two. It’s just that… this is the first time that something I didn’t know actually solved a problem, instead of starting a new one.” I said, as I choked my laughter down to a chuckle. “Wait, does that mean…?” Twilight said, as she lifted her head up to look at me. I leaned down to their earlevel and whispered: “I will gladly accept the both of you.” In response, both of them beamed up, before snuggling tighter into my chest. Then, we just sat there, enjoying the view of the setting sun. I don’t know how long we stayed there like this. I only know that it was long after the sun had settled that I loosened the hug. Both, Twilight and Rainbow, had fallen asleep by then and I decided to not wake them up. I carefully and quietly packed everything back into their saddlebags, before slowly lifting them up onto my shoulders and carrying them home. Since I can’t fly, I obviously couldn’t bring Rainbow back to her house, so I laid her down into the guest bed in the Library instead, seeing as I would have to leave for the train soon anyways. However, since I don’t want to leave them just like that, I put a note on both of their beds. And now, here I am, sitting at Twilight’s desk and writing this entry, while there are two beautiful mares sleeping beside me, with very content looks on their faces. While I wrote this, I actually remembered something a friend of mine used to say. That I would find a girlfriend only after I had died. Well, Peter… I guess, you were right.