She’s the one.
It was the only thought in my head for days. I’m afraid that I must have written it over a myriad of papers, signing it as my name on every form, writing it instead of grades on each exam… She’s the one. I am going to marry Vinyl Scratch.
It may seem like a silly reason to realize it, but I would argue that it is the only way you can discover something so deeply true. It just happens to you one day, out of nowhere, when the silliest little thing happens. And you thank the universe for letting you see it so clearly, but you have to wonder how you didn’t see it sooner. How was their perfection only obvious in this moment? How am I to be sure right here, right now, if I wasn’t already sure a long time ago?
Applejack was the first to notice.
Not that it was hard.
She knocked on the door to my office one morning, peering through the narrow crevice at me. “Uh… Twilight?”
“Mm?” I looked up from my work, smiling sweetly at my visitor. “Oh, Applejack! How can I help you?”
Applejack smiled back, sort of uncertain. “Well, uh… I’m gonna need you to sign this request form again.”
I furrowed my brows. “Why’s that? Do you need more saplings than you thought?”
“No, no, nothin’ like that,” Applejack said. She entered my office, walking slowly towards my desk. “It’s just-- well, you didn’t sign it quite right.”
I leaned forward, holding out a hoof for the paper.
Applejack stared at it a moment longer, then passed it to me.
A deep burning blush immediately rose into my cheeks. There, in a bold and confident cursive, I had signed the paper as “Twilight Scratch”.
I immediately crumpled up the paper and stuffed it into the wastebasket beside my desk. “Whoops! Must have been… thinking about a student and got confused!”
Applejack merely shook her head.
I cringed into myself a little. “No?”
“No.”
I sighed. If you thought Applejack was hard to lie to before, you should try teacher Applejack. That mare’s a real hardass.
“What’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked me, her tone very clearly teasing. She knew exactly what was going on.
I moaned softly, covering my eyes with both hooves.
“C’mon, Twilight. You can tell me,” Applejack coaxed.
I folded my forelegs on the table in front of me and lowered my face into them. “Why does it always have to be this embarrassing, though?” I asked.
Applejack laughed. “Well, it wouldn’t be this embarrassing if you didn’t keep getting this embarrassed.”
I lifted my head enough to peer at Applejack with one stink eye.
She held up her hooves defensively. “Hey, I’m just sayin’. Ain’t nothin’ to be embarrassed over.”
I sat all the way back up.
Applejack had this softness to her face that was unfamiliar to me. At least from Applejack, that is. Like she felt sorry for me, almost, but was also happy for me? Or maybe like she remembered this part, and she was recalling this stage in her own relationship.
“When did you know?” I asked suddenly.
Applejack didn’t even ask for clarification. “Well, one day I was out in the fields applebuckin’, and I was starting to burn out. I decided all on my own that I was gonna take a rest, maybe grab some shuteye.”
I nodded.
“Wouldn’t you know it, not two minutes after I’d made myself comfortable, I see Rainbow coming across the field towards me,” Applejack said, laughing a little to herself. “I thought she was gonna stir up trouble, but she just told me she figured I’d be taking a break around now, and she wanted to bring me some water.”
“Aw,” I commented softly.
Applejack chuckled. “I asked how she knew, and she said she just had a feeling. Hell, I didn’t even know I was about to take a break, y’know? But she did. She knew, and she brought me water.” Applejack smiled wistfully. “Sounds silly when I say it out loud, but that really was the moment I knew I wanted to marry her. I think I started making plans with Rarity that night.”
I smiled. “That doesn’t sound silly at all. That’s… I know exactly what you mean.”
Applejack smirked at me. “It’s ‘cause Vinyl wanted to come teach here, ain’t it?”
My jaw dropped. “How did you know?”
“Aw, I just know you, Twi,” Applejack said. “When Pinkie Pie told me she was helping move Vinyl in as a surprise for you-- well, I was certain right then you’d be proposing soon.”
I blushed. “You were?”
Applejack laughed. “Oh, yeah. Certain as the day is long. You and Vinyl probably shoulda been hitched a long time ago, but I can see why you waited. There’s just always somethin’ goin’ on, isn’t there?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess there is.”
“So, have you talked about it?” Applejack asked. “About getting married?”
I cocked my head. “Er… how so?”
“Just in general. I mean, you know for sure Vinyl wants to get married, don’t you?” Applejack pulled up a chair and sat down, making herself comfortable for what might be a long conversation. “You don’t wanna ask outta nowhere if you’ve never talked about it.”
“Um…” I wracked my brain for any discussions we’d had of the kind. “I think we have a few times. But… well, not about us… together, really.”
Applejack narrowed her eyes very slowly, almost imperceptibly.
“What I mean is-- well, we talk about marriage in general,” I said. “We both want to get married. We both know that about each other. I think, once, Vinyl might have said ‘when we get married’ instead of ‘when I get married’. Is that what you mean?”
“Boy.” Applejack pulled her hat down a little tighter. “Y’all have a weird thing going. Cute, be weird. You talk about feelings all fruity and stuff late at night, don’t you?”
I blushed and looked down at my hooves. “Maybe…”
Applejack scoffed. “See, that’s ‘cause she’s an artist, and you’re a hopeless romantic. Terrible combination. Just two drama queens.”
“Oh, you wanna talk about terrible combinations?” I pushed. “How about the two most stubborn ponies I know?”
Applejack laughed once, loud and pronounced. “Alright, fair enough. But you’re not gettin’ out of the question: you think she wants to marry you?”
I sighed. “I know she wants to get married. And… I’m pretty sure she wants to marry me.”
Applejack smiled at me a little bit. “I think she does, too.”
"You do?"
Applejack waved her hoof dismissively. "Twilight, that mare's crazy about you. Y'all are what I call 'easy third-wheeling'."
"Easy third-wheeling?" I repeated.
"Means you're easy to spend time with. Some couples are-- well, gross, and hard to hang around with if you ain't paired off yourself," Applejack explained. "Couples like that never last long. But ones like you and Vinyl-- well, you're easy 'cause you love each other in every way there is. When you’re alone together, you love each other like marefirends. When you go out with friends, you love each other like friends. You're stronger than those other couples with just one kinda love."
I smiled. "That's… a really beautiful sentiment, Applejack."
"And it's true, too," Applejack added, leaning forward across my desk to gesture more directly to me. "You can take that to the bank. Couples that are easy to third wheel always end up gettin' married. I swear it."
I giggled. "I believe you."
"Well, good.” Applejack leaned back in her chair again. “So, how're you gonna do it?"
I blinked. "Do what?"
"Propose, dummy," Applejack said, with a playful roll of her eyes. "You are proposing, aincha?"
"Uh… " I looked around the room a little, as if hoping an obvious answer would jump out at me. "Y-yes. Yeah, I am."
The rush of emotion that overcame me was almost too much to handle. I was going to propose. I was going to commit to one pony, forever and always. I was going to marry Vinyl Scratch, and every day would be wonderful. Every night I'd crawl into bed beside her and feel her warmth on my side. Every morning I would wake up to her with me. Every day…
"I am," I repeated. "I'm going to propose to her. I'm going to propose to Vinyl!"
"Shush, now!" Applejack scolded. "She teaches here, remember?"
I put both hooves over my mouth. "Whoops."
Applejack smirked at me.
“I--” I thought for a moment. “I don’t have any idea how I’m going to do it. How did you decide?”
Applejack shrugged. “The first time me and RD really started hanging out was to compete. It only made sense that I’d propose to her ‘cause somepony dared me to.”
I chuckled. “Really?”
“Rarity thought it up,” Applejack admitted. “And I was just plumb out of ideas. That mare sure loves drama, don’t she?”
I flashed Applejack a look of agreement.
“I’m sure she’d help you come up with some ideas,” Applejack said. “In fact, I’ll bet she’s been thinkin’ ‘em up since the two of you got together in the first place.”
“Oh, gosh,” I remarked, resting my cheek on one hoof. “That’s so embarrassing.”
“I told you, Twilight: it’s not embarrassing,” Applejack insisted. “If you love somepony, you oughta let ‘em know.”
I returned home that evening in a sort of giddy haze, floating in a warm cloud of happiness.
And indecision.
The thought of proposing hadn’t really entered the equation when I realized I wanted to spend my life with Vinyl-- isn’t that crazy? As far as I was concerned, the decision was made. The switch had been flicked, and I would be married to her.
Honestly, not even a wedding had occurred to me. We were going to have a wedding. With friends and family and-- could you invite students to a wedding?
No, right?
I opened the door to the castle, tossing the keys into a bowl by the door.
“Vinyl?” I called. “You home?”
A moment passed. Silence.
“Spike?” I tried.
A moment passed. “Yeah?”
“Is Vinyl home?” I called.
Spike moaned softly to himself, the sound carrying through the crystal halls. “No.”
Hm.
She must have had some kind of appointment I’d forgotten about. It wasn’t out of the question-- after all, I couldn’t even remember my own name, apparently.
I meandered slowly into the kitchen, thoughts of hot tea occupying large parts of my subconscious. What is it about supping on a cup of tea that just helps you get your thoughts straight? Or is that just me?
I began to hypnotically assemble a mug on the counter.
What were we doing when we first met?
I… guess that depends on how you define our first meeting.
Our first first meeting had been at Cadance’s wedding, oh so long ago. She had been a simple DJ, not there to speak or mingle, just to spin records and give us all a good show. Even though we hadn’t spoken, we’d shared something that night; in sync even back then, singing and playing as one. WIthout that clandestine syncopation, a very special moment may never have happened.
It was lovely. I had fond memories of it.
But Vinyl likely did not. After all, she played hundreds of similar events, probably for figures even more prominent than Princess Cadance.
Were there more prominent figures than the princesses?
Nevermind.
I was now filling the kettle with water at the sink, though I had been too lost in thought to see what led to this action.
The second first time we met had been in the club. This was probably what Vinyl remembered as being our first meeting. Our true first meeting.
It was a feeling that we weren’t alone anymore. WIth my recent princesshood, and wanting only to escape the fame it had brought me, I had felt so seen by her. And, as we had often reminisced, Vinyl had felt appreciated at last; with the way she looked and spoke, other ponies had often thought her the type to never get enough of wild parties and hammering music. But I had sat in the corner with her, hiding out, feeling understood.
She had given me those ear plugs… and I had been the first to appreciate them.
Oh!
I practically threw the kettle down into the sink.
I still had those ear plugs!
Maybe that was something?
I abandoned my tea-making plans, leaving the kitchen in its partially-prepared state, and trotted upstairs.
I had kept the ear plugsin a little tin in my desk drawer. I often brought them with me when I went to Vinyl’s shows, in case I was suddenly overwhelmed and needed a break. After repeated use, the charm had started to wear off, and I’d worked hard to adjust them accordingly; never interrupting Vinyl’s original spellwork, just mending it now and again. I would also perform little maintenances on the foam, or the casing, or just plain freshen them up from time to time. Vinyl had often teased me about it, insisting that she could very easily charm a new pair, but I had refused. I was adamant about keeping these.
The little capsules rolled satisfactorily in my hoof. Their exact weight and shape was so familiar to me that I probably could have made them anew out of thin air with the right spell.
It took me right back to that night. Holding them. I swear I could feel the night air in my mane, could hear Rainbow scolding me for trying to back out (“Look, you promised! You don't have to do anything other than just sit around.”), could feel that strange weight on the back of my neck from the blue glow stick--
Oh! Oh! I still had that, too!
Still holding the ear plugs, I trotted back down the stairs, faster this time.
Sitting back behind a bag of frozen peas was the glow stick, now older than most pony’s shoes. It was still glowing, if very faintly.
I reached in and pulled it out. The texture was… interesting. Especially so cold.
I smiled to myself.
So much confidence I had gained since this glow stick was first snapped. How much my life had changed. How much Vinyl’s life had changed.
I slipped the necklace on over my head. It hung stiffly around my neck, still chilly enough to make me shiver.
Okay, Twilight. You’ve successfully gathered random junk from around the house. Any idea what to do with it?
I hooked my hoof into the glow stick necklace, tugging at it gently until it stretched into an ellipse. It emitted a crackling sound that made me worried about tugging it any further.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear Applejack’s voice, calmly reminding me to talk to Rarity.
I’ll bet she’s been thinkin’ ‘em up since the two of you got together in the first place!
My mind made up, I turned and started to the door.
I almost knew as I approached it that something was different. Perhaps I heard her hoofsteps on the stairs, or had heard the light and familiar notes she was humming to herself.
I opened the door, to see Vinyl, hoof poised midair.
“Oh!” I jumped back a little. “There you are, Vi! Where’ve you been?”
Vinyl’s mouth hung open. She seemed unable to respond.
I stretched around Vinyl a little. Behind her, at the bottom of the stairs, were three familiar faces: BonBon, Ditzy, and Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie was wearing a bass drum on a harness and carrying a hi-hat, grinning like a maniac. BonBon was holding a bass, and Lyra a guitar.
I cocked my head. “Uh… you forming a band?”
Vinyl still seemed totally off guard, trying desperately to recalculate.
“Vi?” I repeated. I stretched around her again, addressing the ponies at the bottom of the stairs. “Girls, do you wanna come in?”
They were silent, too, though in a different way. Kind of a jittery thing. Electric.
“Twilight?” Vinyl finally choked out.
I blinked. “Yeah?”
“Do you, uh…’ Vinyl rubbed one foreleg with the other nervously. “Do you remember the Hearth’s Warming gift you gave me?”
“Uh…” I tried to turn back to Hearth’s Warming. Sometimes it was hard to remember what had been the holidays and what had been an anniversary, given that ours were so close.
“The first one,” Vinyl specified.
The first Hearth’s Warming we’d spent together?
That was a long time ago. I think I’d gotten her some new headphones, which had turned out to be crummier ones than what she already had. Nevertheless, she had made a big deal of them, parading them around town and--
Oh.
The first.
I blushed. “Uh… kinda.”
Vinyl grinned. “You do. You so do. I bet you remember every word of it.”
I giggled a bit. “Maybe.”
Vinyl cleared her throat. The grin softened, and her face grew more serious. “Well… I do. I still have the tape you made me. I bring it with me everywhere I go.”
“You do?” I murmured. My heart fluttered.
Even after all these years, she could still make my heart flutter.
Vinyl nodded. “In fact, it, uh… it inspired me to write a little something.”
“I…” I swallowed. “I inspired you?”
“Twilight, you inspire me every day,” Vinyl said, chuckling. “Don’t act so surprised. Do you wanna hear what I’ve been working on?”
I paused.
Somehow, right then, I knew what was coming. I could’ve said yes right there, I think, and Vinyl would have known.
But I wanted to hear the song.
I nodded.
Vinyl beamed, then turned to Pinkie and nodded once.
Pinkie slammed the hi-hat down onto the dirt and held her sticks in the air. She clicked them together a few times, and then they all started to play.
It was an easy little tune, and Lyra picked something lightly on the guitar. After a bar or two, Vinyl started to sing:
You're the world's greatest song
And we'll all sing along
'Cause the lyrics are smart
It's a true work of art
It won’t always rhyme,
Or even keep perfect time,
But I’ll love every note
‘Cause they’re ones that you wrote
For me
The group continued playing, even after Vinyl had finished singing, their gentle chords ringing out through Ponyville.
“Twilight?” Vinyl asked softly.
I just made a soft sound of surprise, and put a hoof over my mouth.
“I love you,” she said. “And I wanna be with you. I wanna keep hearing your song, as long as you’re willing to sing it to me.”
Tears were already rolling down my cheeks.
“So, I wanted to ask…” Vinyl reached around, revealing a silver ring, perfectly sized to my horn. “Will you--”
“Yes!” I shouted, throwing my hooves around Vinyl’s shoulders and beginning to cry with more force.
Vinyl could barely respond. She rocked backwards a little, nearly tripping backwards down the stairs, but managed to catch herself. “You didn’t let me finish!”
I didn’t respond, just kept laughing and crying into Vinyl’s shoulder.
“Why are you wearing a glow stick?” Vinyl murmured softly.
I pulled back for a moment and sniffled. “I was gonna propose to you,” I said. “But you beat me.”
Vinyl started to chuckle, a deep and melodious sound. “With a glow stick?”
I buried my face back in her mane. “Don’t be mean to your fiance.”