The restaurant was empty.
Well, not entirely. The kitchen was brimming with life. The clanking of plates rang along with the shouts of ponies tossing instructions left and right. It wasn’t every day that they got to serve the Princess of Friendship herself and her consort.
And the date made it all the more special.
Away from the bustling kitchen, Rarity and Twilight sat across from each other at a quiet booth. The window overlooked the nighttime cityscape, and the moon looked down, illuminating their table. There was a candle in the middle of it. Though its light wasn't necessary, Rarity had insisted that it added a "romantic atmosphere". It was amusing, and Twilight couldn't say no.
“It is quite a lovely view,” Rarity spoke softly while taking a sip of the wine.
Twilight wasn’t sure if Rarity meant the night view they had of Manehattan or if she was referring to Twilight herself. “It is,” Twilight replied, batting her eyelashes at Rarity. Now it was Rarity’s turn to guess if Twilight meant the city’s skyline or if she was referring to her.
Complimenting each other like this was like a little game for the two of them. Rarity would compliment Twilight’s intelligence, the way she saw the world, the way she analysed things, the way she took notes, how she was fascinated by the intellectual structure of things and driven by a fascination to understand how things worked. Meanwhile, Twilight would compliment Rarity’s attention to detail, her eye for perfectionism, how she found beauty in patterns, in colours, in fabrics, in nature; how she found beauty in all she saw, in life and how she strived to make things even more beautiful.
The two of them had been together for quite some time; their relationship probably didn’t have the best of starts but, despite some lows, they managed to stick together. They managed to keep loving each other, overcoming adversity and hardships. They loved each other deeply, passionately for many, many years. And if tonight’s dinner was any sign, it’d continue to be that way for many years to come.
It was strange how love could blossom again into so many happy years following a two year divorce.
“Try what again?” Rarity asked, suddenly noting a building feeling in her chest.“If you mean our marriage, I think we’re a little late for that.”
“Are we really?” Twilight stepped closer to Rarity, smiling. Those violet, amethyst eyes sparkled brilliantly in the daylight that was peeking through the window. “It’s never too late for a second chance.”
Hoofsteps brought Twilight back from memory’s lane, Rarity had spent some time making preparations for this dinner. Ten years anniversaries only happen once, darling, she’d said to Twilight, who reacted with a fond smile and a roll of her eyes at the time. Twilight knew exactly what they were celebrating, where they were celebrating, and how they were celebrating it.
Surprising Rarity was nearly impossible these days, having spent so much time together, countless years of adventures, countless years of dates, countless years of anniversaries. Both mares were quite inexperienced in their younger days. But Twilight was an ingenious mare, just as Rarity was clever, and she was quite happy with what she had prepared for tonight’s dinner.
The two of them bowed their heads to the waitress and thanked her for the service. Rarity levitated her glass up and smiled at Twilight, who mimicked her marefriend’s actions and raised her own for a toast.
“To us,” Rarity said, batting her eyelashes at Twilight, her glass floating towards Twilight’s.
“To us!” Twilight parroted, smiling that sweet, bright smile of hers as she directed her glass towards Rarity’s, clanking them to complete the toast.
“Goodness, has it been that long?” Rarity leaned her cheek against a hoof while her other foreleg rested on the table, glass floating in the azure grasp of her magic. “When did ten years pass by?” Rarity fixed her gaze on the swirling wine in her glass for a moment, reminiscing of days past, pretending —much to Twilight’s merriment— that she didn’t remember what they were celebrating for a moment.
Twilight enjoyed these games, these theatrics, and she was sure she’d continue to enjoy them for more years to come. “Not exactly.” Twilight set down her glass and looked out the window. Rarity caught the way Twilight squinted and folded her ears back. It was captivating for Rarity knew exactly what that look meant. Twilight was running calculations, and as much as the gears turned in Twilight’s head, so did the butterflies in Rarity’s stomach flutter.
“Following the position of the moon…” Twilight leaned in towards the window. “It’s been ten years exactly…” She paused for a second before sitting up straight again. “Now!” She exclaimed, smiling brightly, beaming at Rarity from across the table, proud of her hoofwork and calculations.
Rarity saw Twilight’s smile and in it, she saw herself. Memories of their first date, their first anniversary, their first argument. Rarity felt as if she was falling in love with Twilight for the first time all over again. “On the dot?” Rarity asked, eyebrows raised. “How can you be so sure?”
“I just calculated the position and trajectory of the moon and the stars,” Twilight stated matter-of-factly, that silly, yet proud smile of hers beaming through. Rarity’s expression of disbelief made Twilight press on. “Really! I did! Astronomy is a science I studied thoroughly, telling time through the position of the sun and the moon isn’t so unheard of.”
There was just something about how Twilight explained things that compelled Rarity to listen late into the night, ignoring her own exhaustion just to be fascinated by the way Twilight described things; only to wake up with a blanket draped over her body the morning after.
“Goodness, Twilight Sparkle, do you mean to tell me that you have been tracking the movement of the sun, the moon and the stars closely for ten years just to tell me the exact moment when the stars aligned for our ten year anniversary?” Rarity had a hard time keeping her beating heart in place. She didn’t know she could love Twilight more than she already did, and yet here she was, staring at the love of her life with renewed passion. “Just so you could tell me the exact moment when ten years passed by?”
Ten years since Rarity decided that they should, indeed, try again.
Twilight replied with another nod of her head, ignoring the growing heat on her cheeks. “I did!” she chirped. She chose not to mention the star chart and calendar she had to set up or the help she had gotten from Princess Luna so that it’d be exactly on the dot. “Tonight is special for us, Rarity, ten year anniversaries only happen once, darling,” Twilight said with a coquettish smile, batting her eyelashes at Rarity in the way Rarity had done to her many times before. She couldn't help but giggle at the way Rarity rolled her eyes in a continuation of the role-reversal at play. "And that's not all."
“Pardon?” Rarity couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips.
Twilight lit her horn and with it conjured a small, square box. “Rarity,” Twilight spoke, softly, opening the box with her magic and levitating it, showing Rarity the intricate ring inside. It had a beautiful purple diamond on it.
“Your dazzling smile has left my heart thoroughly charmed. It is now that I realise, after all this time with you, that you are the pony I want to spend the rest of my life with.” Twilight’s eyes gleamed as she met Rarity’s. “I didn't know back then just how much you’d mean to me, how much you mean to me now.” Twilight could see how Rarity’s eyes sparkled like sapphires in the moonlight. “If you accept me, I promise I will love you until the end of my days.” Twilight’s smile grew wider as she held those sparkling sapphires with her own effulgent amethysts. “Will you do me the honour of marrying me?”
Rarity felt the breath drawn out of her lungs as her cheeks went up in flames. She stared at the ring for a good moment, then at Twilight, then again at the ring. She blinked once, twice, thrice before she cleared her throat. “Well then,” Rarity said, keeping a small smile on her face. “Darling—”
Twilight interrupted her and smiled, closing the box and lowering it to rest on the table. “I know I know,” she said with a cheeky, yet knowing smile. “I’ll ask you again tomorrow.”
At first, after getting back together, Rarity had asked Twilight for time before remarrying, not wanting to rush things. Some years passed and Twilight finally thought enough time had passed so that she could ask again for Rarity’s hoof in marriage, only to be met with the unicorn telling her to ask her again tomorrow. Twilight had been quite puzzled at first, but she continued to ask day after day. After that, it became a ritual between the two of them.
Every day Twilight would ask, and every day Rarity would answer ask me again tomorrow, darling.
This was how things came to be between them during the years they have been together, asking for Rarity to marry Twilight had become a daily occurrence, a show of love much like the kiss they shared every morning when they woke up.
Twilight thought she was the only one with a surprise today, but Rarity was about to prove her wrong.
“Ask me again,” Rarity demanded, and the words snapped Twilight out of her thoughts.
A quizzical expression overtook Twilight’s face “Excuse me?”
“You didn’t let me answer the question,” Rarity stated calmly. “So please, ask me again.”
Twilight rolled her eyes in amusement, unable to help the lopsided smile that formed on her lips. “Fine, but only because I love you so much.” Rarity’s smile made Twilight’s heart flutter. She levitated the box and opened it again, showing off the ring once more. “Rarity, will you marry me?”
“Yes.”
Twilight went through the motions again. She closed the box and set it down on the table. That’s when it hit her. “Wait, what?” She asked as a clear expression of surprise overtook her.
Rarity smiled, batting her eyelashes and giving Twilight her most dazzling smile. “I said yes, darling, I will marry you.”
Twilight stared at Rarity as if she had grown a second head. Part of her always hoped for this, to hear Rarity say yes, to finally end the ritual. And yet, part of her wanted it to carry on forever. It was as if she was trapped in a romance novel with Rarity, the unicorn and the alicorn, forever in love, intertwined in a dance of passion. Her jaw dropped slightly, hanging agape as she went over the words in her head again.
Yes, darling, I will marry you.
Twilight couldn’t see it, but Rarity’s heart was pounding away at her chest, threatening to burst out at any second. “Honestly, Twilight, where are your manners?” Rarity leaned in and reached for Twilight’s chin across the table. She closed Twilight’s jaw and narrowed her eyes. “A princess like you can’t be caught with her mouth open like that.” She chastised playfully. “Here, let me help.”
But before Rarity could close in the distance, Twilight did it for her.
Their lips met and it was as if fireworks shot out in the distance. Electricity jolted through the two of them as their hearts beat as one. Their lips touched tenderly and, after a moment that seemed to last both an eternity and a single second, Twilight and Rarity pulled away and smiled at each other.