The Dragon's Roost
Something was up. It wasn't just that she'd return to the library half an hour later than usual every other day. Nor was it that exactly three months ago she did not come back to the library. No, it was her voice that made me suspicious. It had gotten quieter, more reserved. Almost scared. It sounded shy and timid, as it had when she'd first asked me out some four years ago. It shook a little when I called her name, and caught in her throat when I asked about her day. I tried to figure out what she was doing, but I never managed to figure it out. But she was here now, and that was all that mattered.
I breathed in her warm scent, holding her warm body in my hooves. I could never tire of the fragrant mix of aromas that clung to her fur and mane. Ginger, lavender, cinnamon, rose, lemon, all present in varying degrees. She nuzzled up against me, her soft and aromatic mane encompassing my nose. The intoxicating scent drove me mad slowly. One breath was all it took to make me forget any problems I'd had in the day. Two breaths and my entire day was a haze. Three breaths made me but a puppet at her command. The ninth breath was my personal chloroform.
I snaked my head around and applied a gentle peck on her cheek, to which she hummed approval. We were just lazing after an afternoon nap, cuddling up with each other. There wasn't much excitement to the day. We'd both gone to her place to take care of the animals, taking a leisurely stroll in the park afterwards. There was a small window of about twenty minutes after that where she'd gone off on her own, but her excuse for doing so was acceptable. But even so, I couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.
"We have to get up, Twily," she murmured softly, turning herself to face me. "It's Thursday night, and almost six."
"Oh yeah, Poetry Night," I mused groggily. "But it's so comfy right here..."
"We aren't missing this one, Twily," she intoned firmly. She stared into my eyes as she said it. My mind, in turn, took the external message and indoctrinated it into my own priority list.
"Mmmm fine," I groaned, allowing her to get up. I pulled myself to my hooves, my joints making cranky cracks and pops from the movement. My muscles ached from lack of movement and made my motions feel stiff and mechanical. Once both of us had stretched and popped joints, we trotted out of the library together.
We walked slowly, as old couples did. We were in no real hurry as far as I knew. We were passed by ponies young and old, some couples among the crowds. But we maintained a relaxing pace, making the five minute walk take ten. The whole time, her wing was draped over me as though to show that I was hers and no one else's. I couldn't help but smile. Her warm wings always felt soft to me, yet felt as protective as steel armor.
We turned left at Sugarcube Corner, walking down one of the busier streets of Ponyville. Many couples walked in the same direction as us, like Lyra and Bon Bon. Soon though, I saw ponies that weren't normally at Poetry Night entering The Teapot. Our other friends, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack, were there in front of the place watching us approach. They did not wave, but greeted us with smiles and warm cheer. However welcome their presence was, they set of thousands of alarms in my head, and raised almost every red flag there was.
Pinkie's left forehoof twisted slightly counterclockwise. Before I could raise my eyebrow, her mane poofed out into a spiky mess that made her appear less huggable than a porcupine. In a heartbeat, it was gone.
"There's a doozy on the way!" Pinkie gasped to herself, marveling at the new Sense.
We stepped inside the hole-in-the-wall teashop, a slightly larger than usual crowd greeting our ears and eyes. Dozens of different blends of tea made their scents known to the rest of the shop, each fighting for control and dominance. However, Neither anomaly was quite as noticeable as the stage being occupied by a few musicians. One with a guitar, one with castanets, Octavia with a string bass, and a microphone set up for a singer. It was entirely out of place, and very much piqued my curiosity. I looked towards Fluttershy, who strangely bore a stoic expression of deep meditation. Something was up, and I wanted to know what.
The usual pitch-black unicorn stallion that held charge of Poetry Night leapt onto the semi-crowded stage, taking the microphone in his magic. He coughed lightly to clear his throat,"Khmm. Good evening, fillies and gentlecolts, poets and guests. I'm sure you've noticed the musicians behind me. They are for a special reading tonight, which I've been asked to keep hush-hush by the pony performing. Tonight shall proceed as usual until exactly eighteen-thirty this evening, at which time, the band will play along with the mystery pony, after which everything shall, again, proceed as normal. I'm done yakking my jaw off. Carrot Top, you're up."
As the nameless black stallion had mentioned, everything went as normal. Carrot Top read a poem about the rain from the perspective of a carrot. She called up somepony else who read a rather dark one about black rain and poisoned air. I sipped at a cup of lavender tea that the barista had brought me, having known I'd want it. I didn't even taste the near-scalding beverage I sipped at anxiously and the usual relaxing sensation that the tea brought failed to calm me in the slightest. I watched the clock, each tick of the lethargic second-hand loud as a sonic rainboom. Painfully slowly, the seconds became minutes, gathering lazily one by one. Five, three poets had shared their works. Ten, five poets had read. I'd drained my tea within fifteen minutes, and subconsciously waved for another.
"Alright, it seems tine for our performer to come to the stage and make final preparations," the black stallion informed at precisely six twenty-five.
I felt my breath catch in my throat as I watched Fluttershy rise from her seat, timidly walking onstage. Her bowed head and tightly clamped wings told how nervous she was to everyone in the teashop. But I saw the subtle signs of just how intensely anxious she was. A slight double-step here, a tail twitch there, but most important were her eyes. They were open wider than a yawn, but the pupils were small as pinpricks.
She stopped before the microphone, her knees shaking visibly from anxiety. She spoke softly, "H-hey e-everypony... Um... You all know wh-who I am... I did write something... but, um... it's another dedicated piece. I wrote this lyrical poem for my i-incredibly beautiful marefriend of four amazing years, Twilight... "
I felt my heart skip a beat, my eyes widen, and my cheeks flush at the same time upon the mention of my name. Many scattered ponies bear their gazes onto me, a few heads nodding in my peripheral vision.
She continued on, "Well, um, I've been waiting and planning this for a long time... A year, actually. I've only recently managed to dare myself enough to do this... So without further ado... Holding You..."
The guitar player started with a quick flare of his instrument, pausing for a while for the castanets to play their part. He re-entered with bright chords and fast strums, while Fluttershy slowly drew breath for her own entry.
"When everything's right, I told you,
I loved you with warmth of flame.
Ever since then, nothing,
has been, the same..."
Octavia joined in on the bass, deepening the sound and completing the ensemble.
"I wished for the day you'd love me,
the day when I'd feel your heart
beating slowly, with mine.
Gently dancing, in time...
Our art...
And I just want to hold,
you in my arms, tonight.
And I just want to know,
you'll be in my arms...
Tonight..."
I was completely enraptured by her voice, so much so that I held my breath until she let the note fade. I tried to take another breath, but it caught in my throat. I tried to move just slightly, but found my muscles locked in place. I was paralyzed by her singing.
"A year passed us by, and so you
showed me what love could be.
You set fire deep inside me,
and helped me see...
Though I already know the answer,
something's been on my mind.
Listen closely, to my heartbeat,
it'll tell you in time...
In time...
And I just want to hold,
you in my arms, tonight.
And I just want to know,
you'll be in my arms...
Tonight...
So come to me, love, I'm calling,
there's something I have to say."
She beckoned me onstage, though I couldn't move. I felt somepony give me a shove to get me moving again. I stepped onstage as the band played a loop while they waited for me. I felt my heart pounding, and my knees were weak. Something was definitely up, but I was clueless. I stood awkwardly on stage, holding my breath, waiting for my marefriend to continue.
The band softened to barely audible volume.
"Will you be my love forever,
from now to the end of time?
Will you be there, to hold me?
Will you forever..."
She paused and dropped low to the floor. from her wing, she pulled a very small feather that looked to be one from her early foalhood. I raised a hoof to my mouth, drawing a sharp breath. I awaited the line I knew was next; the line that would confirm what I now realized she was doing.
She proposed, "be mine?"
The room fell silent. The band cut out, and the crowd held their breath. In the corner of my eye, I saw Applejack's jaw hit the floor, Rarity swoon and near faint, Rainbow gag on her tea, and Pinkie hold dead still.
I fell back on my rump, my knees having collapsed from beneath me as shock took over. It all suddenly made sense. The days being half an hour late, the night she didn't come back, the shake in her voice at my inquiries... They all made perfect sense. She'd been working up the courage to propose to me. My heart pounded in my ears louder than any explosion. My cheeks became red-hot within seconds, and I was sure everyone could see and feel how I was reacting. But even though tears burst forth from my eyes, I felt the single greatest smile to ever exist curl up on my lips, making Pinkie's appear as infinitesimal as a tiny squirrel with a cheeky grin. I forced a breath, choking on the one word I needed, "Yes."
The crowd erupted into applause, stomping loudly against the tile floors of the teashop. Rarity fainted, falling over uncaught to the unforgiving floor. Applejack brought her jaw back and fixed it in its place. A proud smirk appeared on her face as she tipped her hat to us. Pinkie swelled up like a balloon, Rainbow trying her best to hold her back. However, she soon failed. Pinkie exploded into a bright display of party decorations and accessories. However, I didn't care about their reactions. All I cared about was the pegasus that had thrown herself onto me. Her lips met mine and her hooves wrapped around me instantaneously. I melted into her loving embrace as soon as my nerves registered the contact, and as I did, the world dissolved away. The only things I heard were her heartbeat slipping in sync with mine, and the soft breath she drew. All I felt was her hooves around me and her soft lips against mine.
And that was all I needed.