//------------------------------//
// 48-Permission 
// Story: The Life of a Non-Brony 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

Okay. Relax. It'll all be good. 

I trot down the streets of Ponyville toward my destination. I've passed by it several times, but never really given it any thought, beyond Comet telling me that it's where Mr. Powell got his engagement ring for Mrs. Powell. Given how amazing it looks, I figure that it's a great place for my purposes. 

As I walk, I'm greeted by several of the ponies that I'm passing. I've spent so much time in Ponyville with Comet and her parents that I wouldn't be surprised if some of them actually thought that I live here. It might not be far off from the mark. Mrs. Powell has referred to their guest bedroom as "Blizzard's room" enough that I wonder if I moved all of my personal belongings in there that they'd notice or care. It was nice to be so accepted by your marefriend's family.

Not that mine disliked Comet, though she'd only met them once or twice when they came to see me at school. At first they were surprised that I was dating the daughter of the human who traveled across Equestria, but they'd warmed up to her quickly enough. Not that it would have changed anything if they had disliked her on the spot. She was still my marefriend, and I loved her so much that I'd put myself in mortal peril for her!

Which I had. 

It's strange, really. I never thought that I'd meet a mare like Comet when I saw that poster for the bat club. I just happened to walk by the poster in the UC, and glanced at it when I half registered the word "bat." Then I go to the event and she gives a double take when she sees that I'm albino, but as far as I can recall, she hasn't really mentioned that again. I couldn't give you an exact moment when I realized that I was just as infatuated with Comet as she was with me, but as we had more study sessions and times at the bat club and meals at the dining hall... I realized that I didn't like the idea of going through school without seeing her every day. I hated it, really.

And here we are almost four years later, ready to graduate. It's not like I feel like I'm in some kind of major time crunch, but it's been four years. The two of us will be finishing up college in a few months, and from there it's on to grad school. I know we made it through college together, but it would be nice to do grad school... together together. 

With that thought, I take a deep breath and push the door to the shop I'm in front of open. A small bell chimes above me as I walk in, causing the store owner to look up with a smile.

"Ah, Blizzard. Nice to see you," she says.

"Good morning, Ms. Tiara. It's nice to see you as well." I walk up to the cases of jewelry and begin examining the contents. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She puts a felt case she'd been stocking back into the case and locks the back door. She looks up at me with a hint of a smirk. "So, what exactly brings you in today?"

"Well, I'd uh..." I look back to the glass cases, focusing on her rings. Each of them looks lovely. Very well crafted. I'll have to think hard about which one would be best for Comet. Ms. Tiara would certainly be willing to give me advice. "I'd like to get something for Comet."

"Oh, I figured," she said in a tone that made it sound like she knew something that I didn't. Her grin backed up that assessment. "And what exactly is the occasion? Hearts and Hooves is a while away. So is Hearth's Warming. Soooo..." Her grin widens, and I can tell she knows exactly why I'm here.

"I suspect that you might have already guessed," I say.

She clicks her tongue and chuckles a bit. "To be honest, I'm surprised you haven't come in sooner. We've all been expecting it."

I frown and tilt my head. "What do you mean 'all'?"

"I mean all of Ponyville. We saw the same thing with Comet's parents play out," Ms Tiara says. "Now, I was in my younger days when TD came to buy his ring, so I admit to being a touch caught off guard--"

"Mr. Powell said that you and Ms Spoon screeched like little fillies."

"But I can't say it surprised me," she finished as if I hadn't said anything.

"And now here we are almost twenty years after that," I say. "Maybe you'll just be the Powell family jeweler forever."

She shrugs. "Well, nopony lives forever."

"True, I suppose. Either way..." I walk closer to the display case holding the rings. "I admit that I know nothing about buying jewelry, so--"

Ms. Tiara clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes. "Oh for goodness sakes, boy. Get away from those." I frown and look up in time to see her walking into her back room. "I've been preparing for this moment ever since the whole incident at Twilight's school. I knew that no matter what, you putting yourself between Cozy and Comet would earn you all the points that you'd need. I've known TD since I was nine, so I know that anypony who'd be willing to do that for his little filly would-- ah, here we are."

Miss Tiara walks out of her back room holding a small jewelry box in one of her hooves. She places it in front of me with a smirk mixed with the barest hint of pride. I look down at it, only moving to take it when she pushes it an inch toward me. 

"Spent a week on that. I wanted to make sure that it was perfect. I'm actually glad you showed up when you did. I only finished it yesterday."

I take a deep, quiet breath and slowly open the lid of the jewelry box. My eyes widen when I see the ring inside. It's two colors of gold, one enchanted to be Comet's beautiful grey-blue color, and the other pure white. They twist around each other, meeting at the top where a perfect copy of Comet's nightshade cutie mark is embedded in silver. Examining it more, I see my cutie mark and Comet's etched into the underside of the ring. 

Ms. Tiara chuckles. "You like it, then? You should see the look on your face."

"Uh... I mean..." I blink and shake my head to clear it. "That's amazing. I was thinking that... I could look at some of your rings and... no, this one is perfect." I take the box and hold it close to my chest. "So what are we looking at here? Are there some sort of financing options, because I'll pay whatever--"

Ms. Tiara scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Good grief. I guess you can finance it if you want. A twenty bits a month for five months no interest."

I frown and tilt my head. "But that would make this a hundred bits. Come on, it has to cost more than that."

She shrugs. "Well, if you insist. A hundred bits a month for twenty-four months at ten percent interest. You might want to take the first option, though."

"No! No, it's just that I didn't think that something this amazing would be that cheap." I blink and flinch back when I realize how that must sound. "Not that I think your rings are cheap and tacky or anything like that, I was just--"

"Good gracious, boy, you need to calm down," she replies with a vaguely amused smile on her face. "Call it a Powell family discount. I gave TD a pretty good deal on his engagement ring to Ms. Cheerilee. You should ask him about it if you don't believe me."

"Well, I guess that makes sense, so..." I pull my bit bag out and count out a hundred bits. "I don't need to finance it, I suppose. So here you go."

"Figured that would be the route you wanted to go," Ms. Tiara said, her smirk widening a touch. She counts the bits out herself and scoops them into her cash register. She writes out a receipt and hoofs it to me before putting the ring box in a small bag. "Here you are. Best of luck to you. Don't think you'll need it, though. I'm sure that TD will be more than willing to grant you permission to marry his daughter when you ask."

"Yeah, I'm sure he..."

Oh. Right. I needed to ask his permission on that. I mean, it's really all just a formality, like she said, the whole incident at the school probably got me enough goodwill with the Powells, but that won't make this any less freaky.


*  *  *  *


I open the door and poke my head into Sugarcube Corner. I wonder if it will take time to spot him, but he's the only person I see. He's not doing much, just reading the local paper while munching on a doughnut and drinking coffee. 

Okay. I can do this. He already knows this is coming, so... this'll all turn out fine. I enter Sugarcube Corner and start walking over to Mr. Powell when I realize that I haven't gotten anything. Yes, food would be good. I glance over at Mr. Powell. It seems like he spotted me, but when I look a little closer, he's still reading his newspaper. Okay, that's... good? I dunno. It probably doesn't matter at all. I reach the front counter to see Pinkie Pie standing there, smiling as usual. 

"Mornin', Bliz. What can I get for you today?" she asks. 

"Oh, uh..." I look down to the display case. "Just a chocolate chip bagel with strawberry cream cheese and a peach shake."

"Comin' right up." She grabs the bagel and begins toasting it as I count out the bits for my breakfast. It isn't more than a few moments before she gets me my food, allowing me to make my way over to Mr. Powell. This time he fully looks up from his paper. He folds it up and places it beside him as I sit down. 

"Good morning, Blizzard. Surprised you're up this early. Comet's still conked out, right?"

I nod. "Yeah, if the snoring coming from her room was any indication."

"Yeah, she's always been a bit of a snorer," Mr. Powell admits. "But what's got you up?"

"Uh, well... I actually got up to talk to... you." He raises an eyebrow, and I take a long drink from my shake to buy myself a few more seconds of time. I know he's going to say yes, but this is like bungee jumping: you know that the rope isn't going to snap, and even if it did, you can fly, but your mind still feels something is going to go wrong. 

But I can't hold this off forever. Not if I want the best mare in the world to marry some dope like me. 

"Alright, so..." I take a deep breath and straighten up a little bit. "You daughter is an amazing mare. She's strong, she's mature... ish, she's incredibly smart, and any stallion would be the luckiest pony in the world to have her. I would like your permission to propose to your daughter."

There. I said it. The worst has to be over, right?

"Hm." My. Powell leans back and stares at me in a way that makes me feel like I'm being x-rayed. If the answer is no, just say it already! "I'm surprised it took you this long. You weren't afraid of asking me, were you? I mean, it's been a year since that whole thing at Twilight's school, and frankly Cheerilee and I would have both said yes that night if you'd asked, given how you put yourself in danger for her."

The ball of pressure and terror in my chest slowly fades away, replaced by hope that this will all go super smoothly. 

"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to do anything to let Cozy Glow hurt Comet. You know that feels better than anybody. Hopefully I won't have any more magical threats to deal with, but if there is one and I need to protect Comet..." I shrug. "No question."

"Happy to hear that, but I'm sorry to say that given that Comet spends a lot of time in Ponyville, it just might come up again," Mr. Powell says. "Hopefully not now that Celestia and Luna are doubling any efforts to scour the planet for any artifacts or monsters that might attack again. Heard they found something called a Nightmare Weapon a little while back. Asked Twilight what it was and she didn't feel like telling me." He shrugged. "Eh, glad it's off of the streets whatever it does. In any case." He leans forward. "Given all of the time you've spent around the house and what Comet has been telling me, I have no doubt that it'll all turn out okay. She's going to be so excited. You got a ring, I presume?"

I nod. "Right here in my saddlebag. I'd show you, but I'd like Comet to be the first one who sees it."

"Fair enough. When do you think you'll do it?"

"Well, we have a date set for tomorrow," I reply. "She thinks it's going to just be some day out like we've had a million times. The fair is tomorrow, so I was thinking I would 'win' her the ring at some game or other."

"Cool cool." He smiles a genuine smile as we stand up. "Well, that should all be nice, then. In any case, if you need--"

That's when we both spot Pinkie Pie. Her grin is wide enough that I think her head is going to be split open, and she's shaking. It's almost like a soda bottle that has been shaken for five minutes straight. "You're proposing to Comet," she whispers, as if that's the only thing that will prevent a full-blown explosion of joy.

"He is," Mr. Powell says, poking Pinkie's forehead. "And pink discretion is advised."

"Demanded, really," I chime in. 

She just keeps squeaking and shaking.


*  *  *  *


"Having fun?" I ask as we walk down the crowded streets of Ponyville. All around us are various booths of merchandise, games, food and Luna knew what else. Each stall had at least a dozen ponies around it, all chattering happily. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but a nice, gentle breeze made it so that it wasn't too hot out. 

"Oh, yeah, totally," Comet says, putting the wrapper for a cookie I'd bought her in a nearby trash can. "Definitely a good idea. She fluttered her wings to stretch them out a little bit as we walked. "What were you thinking of doing next?"

"Well, there's the bottle toss that I've been itching to try all day. That could be fun."

"It could be." She smirks at me and nudges her elbow into my side. "You practiced beforehoof? Remember two years ago when you tried it out and it didn't go all that well?"

I groan and facehoof. "Ugh. Don't remind me. I'll be better this time, though."

"Still not sure how you managed to miss the entire booth and knock over a stack of jars two booths down," she said. "If you were trying to impress me, you certainly did a good job."

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled. "I'll do better this time."

"Believe it when I see it." 

Sheesh. I'll do better. I've been practicing. 

We reach the bottle toss stand, which must have seen some good business, because there are a fair few empty slots where there used to be novelty plushies of the princesses and other such prizes. The unicorn proprietor grinned when he saw us approach. 

"Step right up, step right up! You, sir, do you think you can knock over those bottles with these here coconuts? You could win a fabulous prize for your lady there!"

"Ooh, you could!" Comet says, pointing at a giant Twilight plushie. "There are all kinds of pranks I could play with that!"

"I'm not so sure that Twilight would appreciate that," a voice from behind us says. We both turn to see Mr. and Mrs. Powell walking up behind us. Both are smiling, but I can see Mrs. Powell's smile is a bit different. It's joyful, but I can also see the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes. I glance over to Comet, who doesn't seem to notice. 

"Well then she shouldn't be friends with Rainbow Dash. I've already asked her for good ideas. I was thinking of starting with the 'sneak it into her bathroom and put it facing the door' thing. That is, if this guy could hit the broad side of a barn."

"No, no, this time it'll be different," I say, plunking a pair of bits onto the counter. The proprietor gives me a trio of coconuts, and I take one in my hoof. I wind up and aim. "This time I'll..." 

"Miss completely. Again." Comet gives an amused roll of her eyes. "Does it count as winning if he hits the thing I want?"

"No no, there are still a few shots left." That didn't work at all. I pick up the second coconut. "I have a strategy that'll... oops! Sorry!"

"Look, buddy, I can't give the mare a Princess Twilight plush if you're going to take my head off!" the proprietor says, poking his head up from behind the counter and rubbing his horn to make sure that I didn't break it off. I'm impressed with how fast he ducked. 

"Sorry, sorry, I just..." I take a deep breath and focus. This time. It has to be this time. I wind up, keep my eye on the bottles, and throw.

"So maybe you're not cut out for this game," Comet says, watching the coconut that didn't hit anything important roll around on the ground. 

"Well..." The proprietor grimaces and glances over at me. "It's... I'll give you another shot. Or three. Here you go." He picks the coconuts up and places them in front of me again. "Just hit one. If you hit even one, I'll give you whatever you want."

"Ooh, the stakes have been raised!" Comet cries. "Not even you can miss six shots!"

It turns out that I can.

The proprietor groans and facehooves. "Look, buddy, I'm trying to help you out here, but you have to give me something."

"I'll get it," I say through gritted teeth. I pick up one of the coconuts and wind back. "If I have to try all day, I'll get it."

"Please don't," he grumbles. 

I ignore him as I throw the coconut at the bottles once again. It glances off the top of one of them so lightly that it doesn't even shake the tower.

"That counts! That counts!" the proprietor cries. "You can have a small prize!"

Comet clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes. "We'll come back next year with a water gun or something like that. Anyway, what did you win me?"

The proprietor puts the bag on the counter, and I snatch it up. I briefly glance inside, pulling the box open ever so slightly to verify that it all looks good. Perfect. Nobody swapped it for a fake or anything like that.

"Well, I won the best gift ever for the best mare ever," I reply, turning to her. "It's even better than the plush Twilight that you want to play pranks with. I'm... not one for big speeches, I guess, but I wanted to give this to you, in the hopes that you'll like it." I slide the box out of the bag and get down on one knee. Comet's eyes are wide, and I can see that her legs are starting to shake a bit. "You're the best mare that I've ever met, Comet Screech Powell. Will you make me the happiest stallion in Equestria?" I slowly open the box, revealing the ring inside. "Will you marry me?"

Everypony around us has stopped to look at us, many of them whispering at amongst each other. Comet's breathing more rapidly now, and I half wonder if she's going to collapse in shock. It's been a few moments now and she hasn't said anything. I'm beginning to wonder--

Before I can think any more, she plops down and grabs my head in her hooves. 

"Well duh!" She blinks. "Uh, I mean..." She takes in a deep, shaky breath, and her jaw begins to wobble. "Of course I will. You wouldn't just be the happiest stallion in Equestria, but I'd be the happiest mare, too."

The crowd around us begins cheering and clapping as the two of us hold each other close. Pinkie Pie bursts out from between the stuffed toys with a screech saying something about the most giantest engagement party ever. We'll see about something like that later. For now, all that's important is me and the wonderful mare who wants to be my wife. I put the ring around Comet's neck, and the two of us embrace again.

"Blizzard?" she whispers, nuzzling my neck.

"Yes, Comet?"

"You're such a shit shot."

"I know."

"Tell me about it," the proprietor grumbles. 

The two of us eventually break away, but before Comet can stand up, Mrs. Powell rushes over and throws her arms around her for a crushing hug. Her happy crying makes Comet start happy crying, and the two of them start talking so fast that I can't keep up with it. 

"You did good," Mr. Powell says, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Not at the game, but I haven't seen Comet so happy since we told her we were going to adopt her."

"Yeah. This is going to be amazing."

"No doubt. In any case..." Mr. Powell walks up to the booth and puts two bits on the counter. The proprietor gives him a suspicious look after glancing over at me. Mr. Powell picks up the coconut, then one by one knocks over all three towers of bottles, leaving not a single bottle standing. He chuckles and buffs his fist on his shirt as the proprietor hoofs him the Twilight plushie.

"Still got it. So Comet..." He turns to Comet and Mrs. Powell. "What was it that you were saying about pranking Twilight with this?"

Comet rolls her eyes.