//------------------------------//
// Beautiful Stranger 
// Story: The Calm Before The Song 
// by Undome Tinwe 
//------------------------------//

She was playing their song.

Lightning Dust smiled as she landed on the front porch, drawing her wife's attention away from her fiddle. "Well, what do we have here?" she said, a swagger in her step as she approached. "Now what's a pretty mare like you doing all alone on such a nice day?"

Fiddlesticks rolled her eyes. "Waitin' for you to get back from yer shift," she said. She patted at the spot next to her on the bench. "C'mon, sit for a spell. You've been on your hooves all day."

"I wish." Still, Lightning sat down, instinctively leaning into Fiddlesticks. "Need to find a way to get myself demoted so that I can get back to wrangling the weather instead of paperwork."

Fiddlesticks smirked. "With your winning personality, I'm sure you'll have no problem with that."

Despite her best efforts, Lightning cracked a grin at that. "The problem is that we're living in Appleloosa, which means that they just call it having gumption when you yell at them and call them an idiot."

"Then I guess you'll just have to try harder to be yourself," Fiddlesticks teased, giving her a playful jab with her elbow.

"But what if another rugged musician passing through town falls in love with my rakish charms?" Lightning's shit-eating grin made Fiddlesticks laugh, and that was what mattered.

"I'll wish 'em good luck and tell 'em about how you like to have your ears nibbled on in bed," Fiddlesticks replied dryly. "Then I guess I'll keep wandering Equestria until I find another hotshot athlete with more guts than sense."

"Maybe you'll find an actual Wonderbolt this time." A few years ago, that joke would have been too painful for Lightning to make. Now, she grinned widely, waiting for Fiddle's response.

"That sounds like a lot of work," Fiddle said, wrapping a foreleg around Lightning. "I think I'll just stick with you."

"Oh, good." Lightning breathed out a fake sigh of relief. "It would really suck if you left me right before going to your big audition."

Fiddle chuckled. "Don't you worry none, sugar. I wouldn't know what to do with myself without my little stormcloud hanging over me." She nuzzled her wife affectionately. "If I nail this audition and end up all rich and famous-like, I'll make sure you get front-row seats to all my shows."

Lightning pressed a kiss against Fiddle's cheek. "Admit it, you just want to keep an eye on me so that I don't try to show you up."

"Sugar, you know I just like looking at you." They both shared a quiet giggle as Fiddle tried to leer at Lightning and ended up squinting at her instead. "Especially when I'm playing my music. Reminds me why I still try to make this gig work instead of just running off into the woods to play for the critters."

"It always freaks me out when you say stuff like that." Another kiss. Lightning was addicted to kissing her wife, to tell the truth. Not that either of them minded, though. "I thought you were the one keeping me grounded."

"That don't mean you can't be my anchor too," Fiddle replied. "If I do make it big, I'm gonna need you to keep me from gettin' a big head. I ain't never wanna end up like those other stars."

Lightning nodded. "Right, I just need to make sure you don't do any of the things I did. Easy."

That quip made Fiddle swat her playfully with a hoof. "Hey, none of that now, ya hear? You did a lot of things I could learn a thing or two from. Good and bad."

"Yeah, yeah." Lightning sighed. "At least I got some good advice out of all of that. If I can't be the superstar, I'm sure gonna make sure you get to be one."

Fiddle frowned at that. "Are... are you gonna be okay with that?" she asked softly.

"Huh?" Concern welled up in Lightning, a little pit of dread in her stomach. "What do you mean, Fiddle? You know I'll love you no matter how this audition goes, right?"

"It's not that." There was a pause as Fiddle's brows furrowed in concentration. "I mean, I know you ain't gonna think less of me if this goes sideways tomorrow. To tell the truth, it's the other thing I'm more worried about. Not just about me getting a big head, but about what getting into the big leagues might do to us."

"Hey, I'm gonna be with you no matter what." It didn't make any sense for her to be worried about that, but Lightning was going to be there for her wife. "You're gonna have all the fame and fortune, after all."

"And you'd be okay with that?" She was almost whispering now. Fiddle never whispered. She was loud and proud and never afraid to speak her mind. It was pretty obvious why Lightning had fallen so hard for her. "I know how much you miss being the center of the crowd."

"Oh." The pieces finally clicked in Lightning's head. "You're worried I'd be jealous?"

"You really won't care that I might get what you always wanted?"

Lighting wanted to scoff at that, to blow it off as silly and stupid and petty. But, well, she knew she could be a petty bitch sometimes, so she took a moment to think about it. "I... I guess I can't say for certain that it wouldn't ever bug me," she finally admitted. "I know when I was younger, the idea of just being remembered as the wife of someone famous would've driven me to do some real stupid things. But now? Now, I know that what matters is us, and what we have today. Not what might happen tomorrow, or next year, or after I'm too dead to care about fame."

"I like that," Fiddle said. "And I think what we have today is really swell." She leaned over to press her lips against Lightning in a soft-but-firm kiss.

"Me too," Lightning replied after they pulled apart. "Besides, if anypony tries to call me a trophy wife to my face, I'll just punch their lights out."

The sound of Fiddle's laughter was the most beautiful music of all. "Sounds 'bout right." She picked up her fiddle again, holding the bow just above it. "Anyways, that's enough gettin' distracted by my lovely wife. I gotta get all the practice I can before the big event tomorrow."

Lightning snapped off a salute. "I'll get dinner ready then for when you're done." She snuck in a quick nuzzle before hopping off the bench and trotting over towards the entrance to their home. "See ya later, Fiddle."

Fiddle raised her bow up. "See ya, Lightning." With that, she pressed the bow against the strings of the instrument, and continued playing the same song that Lighting had first heard from her at their first meeting.

Lightning hummed along as she made her way inside. Yes, things could change very drastically tomorrow, but no matter what, they'd have each other, and their song, and that's what mattered.