By the time the huge mounds of confetti and glitter were swept up, it was almost lunch time. Lustre Dawn, hugely reassured by an hour spent companionably working a broom beside Little Cheese, felt confident in suggesting a continuation of the delayed seventh date.
Yurik had returned to Yakyakistan, of course. He had moved home after they all graduated from the School of Friendship, and still worked in his family’s cargo-hauling business, pulling sleds up and down the mountain. He could only get the train down to Ponyville on special occasions.
But Carrot Bran and Grayson lived in Ponyville with Carrot Bran’s widowed father, and Leaftail’s adventure tour business was also based in town. Lustre Dawn was relatively hopeful that they’d all be free for lunch.
Little Cheese agreed enthusiastically to the plan. “That sounds great! I don’t have any cheesecakes prepared this time…but given how that went last time, maybe that’s for the best.” She shot Lustre Dawn a mischievous grin, and Lustre Dawn giggled along with her.
The two mares trotted out of Pinkie’s emporium flank to flank, with Pinkie Pie waving a noisy goodbye behind them.
Carrot Bran’s home was the closest, and it took no more than a few minutes to reach the friendly orange-painted door. Lustre Dawn raised a hoof to knock. Little Cheese leaned lightly against her, and the warm contact of fur on fur was enough to set Lustre’s heart racing.
The sound of fumbling keys came from behind the door, and it swung open to reveal Grayson. His black feathers were slightly more rumpled than normal, and he blinked at the daylight. “Oh. Hey, Lustre Dawn.” His eyes widened a little. “And Little Cheese! Hi.”
He glanced at Lustre Dawn for guidance, and she beamed at him and raised her eyebrows, trying to signal to him that everything was back on track.
He caught her meaning and smiled warmly at them both. “Do you guys want to come in?” He stepped back, claws scraping softly on the stone flags, and ushered them both in ahead of him.
Little Cheese walked carefully past with the polite air of somepony visiting a new acquaintance for the first time, but Lustre Dawn had no such limitations. She paused as she passed to smooth Grayson’s crest feathers back into place. “Did we wake you or something?”
He batted her hooves away, but not hard. “Yes, actually. Carrot Bran and Root are out back planting something in the vegetable garden and I was taking advantage of the rare opportunity to have a lie in.”
Once Little Cheese was safely through the door to the living room, Lustre Dawn hastily swung back to Grayson, grabbed his talons and grinned at him in delight.
He smiled back, shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, and pulled her into a quick hug. “So you’re back together?”
“Yes!” Lustre Dawn hissed, nearly bouncing with excitement. “It’s a long story, but it was all a misunderstanding!”
“I knew it!” He fist-pumped. “No one could ghost you! You’re too dang special.”
Lustre Dawn squeezed him in a hug one last time and hurried through the doorway after Little Cheese. Little Cheese had seated herself on one of the plush umber settees, and Lustre hopped up beside her. Grayson busied himself in fetching them coffee and some biscuits, and vanished for a moment into the garden. He returned with a muddy Carrot Bran close behind him, smiling widely at the sight of Lustre Dawn and Little Cheese together.
“It’s so great to see you both,” he enthused, coming in for a hug but checking himself when Lustre Dawn pulled a face at the dirt on his fur. “Oh yeah, of course. Sorry about that. I always forget!”
“We want to do that lunch together that we talked about a couple of weeks ago,” Lustre said without preamble. Her face almost ached from smiling so much, but she was too happy to stop.
“Sure,” Carrot Bran agreed easily. “Give me half an hour to clean up and we can meet you down at the Hayseed.”
“It’s a shame Yurik won’t be able to join us,” Grayson said, re-emerging from the kitchen with more coffee for Carrot Bran. “And do you guys know where Leaftail is working today?”
“I think she said she might be taking a group out to the lake,” Carrot Bran answered. “Or just heading over there herself if she couldn’t find any customers.”
Lustre Dawn harrumphed her disappointment. “It’s going to be a long walk over there to get her.”
“Fear not,” Grayson declared, striking a theatrical pose that set Carrot Bran snickering with laughter. “I can fly over there in half the time and let her know.”
Lustre Dawn shot a glance at Little Cheese, who was giggling behind her hoof at Grayon’s dramatics, and relaxed into a smile herself. “That’d be great, Grayson. But either way, it’s going to be a good couple of hours before she can make it back on hoof.”
“Then I’d better get going,” Grayson shrugged. He stood, gulped the remnants of his coffee, and leaned in to nuzzle Carrot Bran’s muddy nose. “I’ll see you later, you gross stallion.” He turned to Lustre Dawn and Little Cheese. “Ladies, shall we say three o’ clock at the diner for a late lunch?”
“Sounds good!” Lustre Dawn spoke at the same time as Little Cheese, and the simple act of speaking in unison and building shared plans made a lovely warmth spread through in her stomach. This is how it begins, she thought. We’re building a future together.
She watched Little Cheese as she chatted with Carrot Bran, laughing at his attempts at humour, and felt the warmth spread up through her chest and along her limbs. Little Cheese was so beautiful, so confident and at home with Lustre’s friends. It was like she’d known them all her life. Lustre Dawn looked at the little yellow mare and her candyfloss mane, and knew with a certainty so strong it shocked her, that this was the pony she wanted. This one was the right one; this one was hers.