//------------------------------// // The Question (Part 2) // Story: A Beautiful Night // by MrNumbers //------------------------------// Pinkie was halfway to the library when the music changed. It was hard to put words to it, but it felt… more significant. The change from improvisation to composition, maybe? Octavia didn’t announce it.  Maybe that’s what Vinyl had gone to do, but Pinkie wasn’t so sure about that one. She caught Shining Armor in the hallway. He looked concerned.  “Can’t talk now,” he darted right past her, “Need to send a message out. You seen Spike?”  “I think he went-” but even that was too slow for him.  “I’ll figure it out.” And then he was gone.  He didn’t seem to be worrying about the same thing Pinkie was. Pinkie needed to talk to Twilight about their relationship. And she was a bit scared. Well, not scared. Nervous? No, scared. It was scary. Probably good, unless Twilight said no. But she might say no. It was a big question.  Pinkie got to the library. She opened the door.  Twilight was sitting at a table for two in the middle of the room, surrounded by candles. A vase of familiar flowers in the middle, catching the flicker of candlelight on their surface and scattering it in pretty ways. A bottle of wine in an ice bucket, and Twilight trying to look just as cool.  They were both too nervous to say anything as Pinkie took the chair across from her and sat down. It wasn’t new-relationship jitters, those had disappeared months ago. It was… they had a relationship built on little moments and small gestures.  This was a big gesture. Twilight had planned this. Judging by the music, she’d even planned this with other people. That was a big deal. And Twilight knew that Pinkie knew, too.  So, they were nervous, because they weren’t a new couple anymore. They had enough of a normal for this to fall outside of it - even the dates they’d been on lately hadn’t been like this. Twilight spoke first. “It’s just wine. I didn’t actually have lunch planned or anything.” She poured them each a glass. “I didn’t plan much, actually.”  “This is really nice.” Pinkie took a sip. It wasn’t vinegar! So that was good. It was hard to tell with the castle wines sometimes. It might actually be port on purpose. “What’s the occasion?” “It’s no fun if I just say now. I think.” Twilight nodded. “We have time.” “I’m not in any rush.” Pinkie agreed, half because she was putting off her own thing. Warming herself up to it sounded perfect. “I’d say normally you’re supposed to do this kind of thing as a dinner, but it’s already the middle of the night.”  “I don’t think it’s the middle of the night anymore.” Twilight stared at her glass, swirling it. “I think it’s nearly the end.”  “Way too late for lunch, then, anyway.” Pinkie agreed, and Twilight giggled. “You really think so?” “I think we’re going to win.” Twilight wasn’t drinking her wine, just playing with it. “Soon.” “Is that what this is about?” “No. Well, not directly.” Twilight gave Pinkie the look she gave when she caught her cheating at cards (Pinkie only cheated when it was more fun, and Twilight had more fun trying to catch her), “But I said we had time, didn’t I?” “You did,” Pinkie stuck her tongue out. “I just wanted to see if I could trick you. But you’re too smart.” “You can’t get me with compliments either. That doesn’t work on me, anymore.” “Tsk,” Pinkie clicked her tongue. “It was so much more fun when it did.”  “I still like you trying though.” “Which is why I haven’t stopped!” They both giggled at that. Twilight finally took a sip from her wine, and sighed in relief. “Oh good, it really isn’t vinegar.” “You waited for me to drink first!” “I was hoping you weren’t just keeping a straight face to trick me into drinking it too, in revenge.” Twilight admitted. “I would have deserved it.”  “You would have!”  There was a knock at the door. Twilight flinched, nearly fell out of her chair. “Little busy here!” she called, trying not to look away from Pinkie. “Whatever you’re doing, this is more important.” Shining shot back.  “I don’t think it is!” Pinkie Pie had seen suspension bridges under less tension than the smile Twilight gave, as she said that.  “Twilight.” Shining knocked again, hard enough to rattle the doors.  Twilight pushed her chair out. “If you’ll excuse me.”  Pinkie grabbed a book while she waited. None of the books were made for light reading, though, so she started trying to see if she could make a house of cards out of them instead. She couldn’t. You’d think it’d be easier because they were so much thicker, but it wasn’t. She couldn’t get a second layer done before the door banged open again. Twilight came back, more frazzled than she left. “Sorry about that.” “Hey, it’s okay.” Pinkie piled the books into a neat stack and bounced back to her chair. “You were saying?” “Where did we leave off?” Twilight checked her glass again. “Right. You didn’t trick me into drinking vinegar.”  Pinkie giggled. “If that’s how you want to put it.” “It is exactly how I want to put it, yes.”  “What was that about?” Pinkie looked at the door. Twilight tensed up.  “A problem for later. I think.” She let her breath out, but the tension stayed in her shoulders. “Not a solved one, yet.”  “We’ve solved problems before. It’ll be…” “Fine?”  “Fixable.” Pinkie felt much more comfortable with that. She leaned across to touch Twilight’s wrist. “I think the problem’s exactly as bad as you think it is, but I think you’ll be better at fixing it than you think you are.”  Twilight blinked. She had to blink a few more times, and wipe the first misting tears. Then she sniffled. She laughed as she rubbed her eyes. “I wasn’t ready for you to say that.”  “I’m also better than you think I am.” Pinkie blew a raspberry, and Twilight laughed harder. “I really do love you,” Twilight said, and Pinkie wasn’t ready for that. It was the way she said it.  “I’m really scared. I think, whatever’s about to happen, it’s going to be the end.”  “We’re going to win.” “I hope so. But, whatever comes after, it’s going to be different.” She tried to give a reassuring smile, but it was more vulnerable than anything else, “I don’t think I could have done this if I had somewhere else I was supposed to be. If I had a life to go back to.”  “You would have.” Pinkie just kept holding her wrist. “I did.” Twilight shook her head, but she didn’t pull away. “You’re stronger than I am.”  “You would have,” Pinkie said again. “It’s not about being tough. Lots of tough ponies just tried to make the most of it. It’s about needing to do the right thing.”  “So you’re saying I’m stubborn?” Twilight teased. “You are,” Pinkie squeezed, “so stubborn. Oh my gosh. You’re impossible.” “I’m impossible?”  “The absolute worst.” Pinkie leaned forward. Twilight kissed her. Her cheeks were still a bit wet. It was nice.  “Well,” when she leaned back, the tension was finally leaving her, “I’m glad.”  “I’ve been thinking about that, though. What I want to do after all this.” Pinkie shrugged. “I’m different now. Maybe I want to do different things.” “Like what?”  The music stopped. Spike’s voice interrupted it. “Ah, Twilight? We need you-”  Twilight teleported before she could scream in frustration. The music started again, but this time it was a recording.  Pinkie looked at the bouquet of flowers, and smiled. Some memories are more important than whether they were happy or not, because they led to happier things.  Would flowers like this still be around when the sun came back out? Would they be as beautiful in the daylight? Or was it just the moonlight that made them so pretty?  There’d still be night, she reminded herself. Just the normal amount of it. She looked at a pile of books that was being put away. There was a big stack of notes about spells on it. How they were going to use the Crystal Heart to save Equestria. How it was powered by love and harmony magic. How to jumpstart it with the Tree of Harmony. Blah blah blah. Pinkie didn’t understand the specifics, and she already knew about most of the big picture stuff.  Here was a note from Shining Armour though: Was it safe to test? Here was the reply in three different styles of handwriting: “No”.  Moondancer wrote it’d be like trying to test a giant bomb without being noticed. Deliberately added that the bomb was essentially made out of things that were made specifically not to blow up. Twilight added that you can’t test the same bomb twice, and they weren’t getting a second one.  Spooky. Twilight teleported back. She was more frazzled than when she came back last time. When she tried to give a reassuring smile, it came out a grimace.  “Is it an emergency?”  “Yes.” Twilight nodded. “It is. But this is more important.” Twilight sat back down, and Pinkie sat across from her. Twilight downed her wine, then looked at the empty glass as she sucked her lips. “That was a bad idea.” She poured another glass anyway. Pinkie took Twilight’s second glass, and pulled it across the table where Twilight couldn’t reach it. “What’s going on?”  “It’s-” Twilight reached for her glass anyway, and Pinkie raised an eyebrow at her. Twilight slunk back in her chair. “I was just going to sip it that time. I like having something to fiddle with while I think.” Pinkie slid the wine glass back across the table, and Twilight swirled it in the glass instead of gulping it. “You really think we’re going to win?” “I do.”  Twilight’s ears flicked at that. “It’s believing we have a future that’s made me think about what I want from it. I think.” Pinkie sat up straighter. “I’ve been thinking about that too. I think we might be thinking the same thing.”  Twilight looked a lot like her brother, then. She got the same look that he did when he was getting ready to jump onto a moving train. “You do?”  “I do!”  Twilight’s ear flicked at that again. She took a deep breath. She lifted the flowers from the vase on the table. “Pinkie,” she started. “I want to be a Mom!”  Twilight had just taken the engagement ring off the bouquet. It hung in the air between them. Pinkie stared at it, and it clicked.  “Didn’t we already do that part?” Twilight was looking at Pinkie from somewhere very far away. “No.”  “I could have sworn…”  “Pinkie, did you think we were already engaged?”  Obviously! “Don’t you want to be?”  Twilight’s face fell in her hooves. “Yes. Yes, Pinkie, I’d like that very much.”  “Well! Good.” Pinkie took the ring. She was going to wear it on the same chain a crystal had hung a few months before - she’d kept it. “Did you make this? It’s lovely.” “I did.” Twilight was on autopilot. She didn’t even smile or look proud about the compliment, yet. “Please don’t break this one, though. If you don’t know where I am, just hold it close and it’ll point you to me, like a compass.”  Pinkie tested it. The amethyst crystal in it pulsed with warm sunlight when the ring faced Twilight across the table. It reminded her of the crystal heart, kind of. “Gosh, you’re clever.”  “Did you mean it? About wanting to be a Mom, I mean. I don’t-” Twilight’s eyes widened, and she threw herself across the table, grabbing Pinkie and throwing a shield around them.  Behind Pinkie the castle roared. Books flew off the shelves like autumn leaves in a gust - licking red and yellow flames as they passed. Pinkie turned to see the stone wall melting into slag. Nightmare Moon was here.  Shining and Cadance were there a second later. They were yelling, but Pinkie couldn’t understand it. Cadance was yelling louder. Shining’s shield overlaid Twilight’s, and then they teleported in a flash. Pinkie’s stomach lurched.  They were in the forest. The black vines around the tree of harmony twitched and shivered around them, but Braeburn and Applejack had worked hard at clearing them away from the tree itself. They were here now, terrified and determined. Smoke rose from the castle behind them.  Deliberately Slow looked half-dead at this point. He’d only had a few hours of sleep, and you could almost see the bone of his eye sockets deep in the bags under his eyes. He read paper pouring out of the machines Twilight had built and attached to the crystal heart.  It had a heartbeat now, pulsing as fast as Pinkie’s, each beat a flash of sunlight.  “Where’s everyone else?”  “It’s just us.” Applejack looked back at the castle. “Don’t know about anyone else. How many of them?”  “We only saw one, but it was Nightmare Moon herself.” As soon as she said it, all the blood ran out of Applejack and Braeburn’s faces. “Now or never.”  “I don’t know if we can do it now.” Deliberate’s eyes never left the readouts. “You were right about the Tree, but I think it’s tapped out.” Octavia and Vinyl Scratch came hurtling through the forest. Vinyl stopped at the clearing, and Octavia crashed into her at full speed, pulling her into a deep kiss as they tangled over leaves and tree roots. “Never again. I’m never losing you again.” Pinkie nudged Twilight and pointed at the Crystal Heart. Its pulse had quickened, flashed brighter, as Octavia and Vinyl had… arrived. They hadn’t let go of each other yet.  Twilight groaned. “I guess we’re really doing this then. We’re really going to save the world with the power of love, aren’t we?”  Rainbow streaks lit up the skies. Rainbow was a much better fighter than the first time they’d run into the Nightmare, but she still had to get lucky every time she dodged - Nightmare Moon only needed to be lucky enough to hit once.  Below her was the crackle of Little Strongheart’s flintlock pistols, a sound like a tree branch being shattered over your knee. Twilight doubted they’d do more than annoy Nightmare Moon, but her guards were a different matter; they weren’t bulletproof, and they’d all heard the stories of the buffalo out West by now.  If Nightmare Moon even felt like she needed guards at all, now.  Cadance made it to the clearing with them with a wince. Pinkie wasn’t surprised Shining wasn’t with her - she was surprised she wasn’t with Shining. Flashes of his magic light up the treeline between Rainbow’s bursts. Twilight hugged Cadance close, and Cadance winced like her whole body was bruised. Maybe it was, even if Pinkie couldn’t see any marks on her. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” “For now,” Cadence looked back at the castle, a ways behind them. “We might only have a few minutes.” She finally noticed Octavia and Vinyl, foreheads still pressed together, holding each other. “I think they might have the right idea.”  “They do,” Twilight agreed with conviction. “Pinkie, Cadence, I know this is a bit sudden-” That thing happened where Twilight was absolutely confident thinking of it, but then lost it the moment she had to say it. Pinkie pressed herself into Twilight’s side, and Twilight found herself again. “Cadance, I need you to marry us.”  “Now?” Cadance asked incredulously. There was another gunpowder crack, then Little Strongheart screamed out in pain. “Point taken. This might not be the wedding you wanted-”  “Let’s be honest,” Pinkie cut Cadance off, “it suits us.”  Twilight laughed so hard there were tears in her eyes. Cadence held her stomach and winced, but nodded. She beckoned to Applejack and Braeburn to bear witness - Braeburn picked Twilight’s side, Applejack stood at Pinkie’s.  “Okay.” Cadance cleared her throat. “Fastest wedding in Equestria it is. Do you-”  Pinkie cut her off again. “I do.”  “And do you-”  “I do.” Cadance looked at the bedraggled, haggard and terrified ponies that made up their wedding reception. “Any objections?”  Of course there weren’t.  “You may now kiss the bride.” A second later, the crystal heart hit critical mass. It shot up into the air above them, only as bright as a new star.  But all across Equestria, there were people who knew exactly what that meant, and took it as their signal.  Pinkie Sparkle-Pie didn’t particularly notice it happening. She was distracted.