Silent took a breath in; Crystal couldn't breathe.
"I hope," he said, "that today will have been your last happy memory as a marefriend and that tomorrow, if you'll have me, will be your first happy memory as a fiancée."
Crystal's eyes went wider as he opened the box and held it out into the space between them. Her gaze fell to a white gold band that held a solitaire diamond, which glimmered in the light with iridescent hues. It was yet another addition to Crystal's growing list of beautiful things she had no other words for.
"Crystal Wishes, will you marry me?"
She tore her attention away from the ring to look into his eyes, full of warmth and love.
This was happening.
The stallion she had loved for so long was kneeling in front of her, offering her not just a ring, but a commitment. A commitment to her, to a future together, to a happily ever after. It was all she had ever dreamed of and now it was a reality if she just said yes.
A chill ran through her when the hospitalization flashed across her mind. It could happen again. For all she knew, it would happen again. Was she really ready for the life of the wife of a soldier?
His smile faltered, and her heart jumped into her throat. How long had she been standing there just staring at him, especially when she already knew the answer?
"Yes!" she gasped. There was no way she couldn't say yes; she loved him, soldier and all. "Of course! Yes!" She dropped down and threw her forelegs around him, less as an embrace and more so that she could hide her face. Tears might give the wrong impression, and she was struggling to hold them back.
He put a foreleg around her to hold her close to him. A strange feeling filled her chest, but it wasn't elation or jubilation. The day they had spent together was straight out of a romance novel and he had planned it all to propose. She was so overwhelmed with love for her stallion that all she could do was, for some reason, cry.
A few tears finally fell onto his shoulder, and he asked, "Are you all right?"
She nodded. "I am, honest. It's just, this was all just so beautiful. Everything about today was perfect. You worked so hard and I wasn't expecting it at all." She laughed softly. "I almost feel silly for not realizing what you were up to."
He pulled back to look down at her with a smile. "Well, I wanted to surprise you."
"You did." She raised her hooves to wipe her cheeks, then rubbed at her eyes. "You very much did."
He lifted the ring box and asked, "Would you like to try it on?"
"Yes, please," she whispered and lowered her head to offer her horn.
Silent retrieved the ring from its black velvet pillow. She tried to follow it with her eyes as he lifted it up and slipped it onto her horn, but she went cross-eyed once it left her field of vision. "How does it fit?"
"Couldn't be any more perfect." He smiled, his gaze lowering to meet hers. "Runic and I made this together for you. I wanted it to be unique, just like you."
Her heart fluttered while a soft sigh of bliss escaped her. She hugged his neck and mumbled against his coat, "And to think, I just finished planning two weddings. Now I've another to plan."
He chuckled. "Perhaps, at least for this week"—he nuzzled her cheek—"you should just focus on having a good time and leave the planning for when we get back."
"That seems fair. All right, I can do that." She giggled and snuggled against him. He was strong and warm and smelled so good and... she didn't know how else to describe it but he smelled like a stallion.
"We should probably go," he said, gently pressing his nose to her cheek. "We can celebrate back at the room, though."
She pulled away from him with a small pout. "Oh, you've more than earned a celebration after today. It's just a shame the day has to end at all."
"I agree, but now, you get to wake up as a whole new mare." He stood and offered a hoof to help her to her own.
As they started toward and down the stairs, she laughed. "In that case, I hope you like the new mare I'll be tomorrow."
Softly, he wrapped a wing around her. "I'm sure I will."
---
"Honey?" Silent's voice called from the other side of the bathroom door. "Are you all right in there?"
The pink aura of her magic flickered and she reached out a hoof to catch the ring as it fell. "Yes! I'm fine!"
There was a pause. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." She scrunched up her nose. The ring levitated and her eyes followed it as it rose into the air. "Don't mind me."
"Well, normally I'd say okay and leave you alone, but you've been in there for over half an hour."
Crystal blinked. Her intense concentration broken by his words, the ring slipped easily onto her horn. She gawked, frowned, huffed, and finally sighed. "Have I really? Well, I just finished up. I'm sorry." She tilted her head forward to drop the ring back onto the counter, flipped the lock, and opened the door. "Good morning."
Silent glanced her over from head to hoof, his brow furrowed. "Good morning." He shrugged and leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek. "Fiancée."
She burst into a small fit of giggles and before he could straighten up, she put a hoof on the back of his head to pull him back down for a longer, proper kiss. Once satisfied, she mumbled against his lips, "I think I like it when you call me that."
"I think I like it when you like when I do things." He chuckled and nuzzled his nose to hers.
"Though," she started, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout, "I did notice that there was no romantic bath set up for us this morning. Was that all a one-time game just to get me to say yes?"
He raised one brow and walked past her, the blue flight feathers of his wing trailing along her side. "If somepony hadn't been in the bathroom all morning, maybe things would have turned out differently."
A short laugh escaped her as she turned toward him. "Oh, I see, so this is all my fault?"
"Nooo." He raised one hoof and looked at her with wide eyes. "It's never your fault, dear. The mare is always right."
"Is that so?" She tilted her head, grinning. "And who so wisely taught you that?"
His chest puffed out and a proud little smile crossed his face. "I did. Mares rule the world, after all."
She laughed again while she stepped forward and patted his cheek. "Such a smart stallion you are! Well, I don't want to make us late for Glimmer World, so why don't we skip the much appreciated bath and take a shower?"
He paused to look at the walk-in shower, which was set in the corner of the bathroom with a glass partition to keep the water from escaping. When he returned his gaze to her, there was a look in his eyes that made her heart race.
"Yes, together," she said with an unintentional breathlessness that made his ears perk upright.
One hoof reached out to grab hers and he took a step toward the shower. "Together sounds good."
---
A boat gently carried them down a lazy river so that the crystal pony standing at the front could explain their surroundings in a soft, melodic voice.
"So many different forces shape and alter the land, but throughout the ages earth ponies have made the greatest impact... for better and for worse. When the tribes had yet to be united under the banner of Equestria, earth ponies put the land under great strain trying to provide food for themselves, the pegasi, and the unicorns."
Crystal giggled and nudged Silent's side, whispering, "It sounds like it's all our ancestors' fault."
Silent just shrugged. His gaze was fixed on the dioramas around them. Miniature pony figures moved across the fake fields with crude ploughs with a glimmering sun hanging low in the sky.
"Over the ages," the speaker continued, "earth ponies have perfected the art of living with the earth rather than just living on it. But there is still always room to grow, and ponies of all tribes can contribute to the bright future of our land."
Quiet music filled in for the speaker as they drifted along and enjoyed the scenescapes. Crystal leaned over to nestle against Silent's side, and he looped a foreleg around her shoulders.
"This is nice," he mumbled. "We should do more of the relaxing rides like this."
Crystal giggled. "What about the Petite Equestria one?"
His face hardened and he shook his head. "Don't start that again."
"With the light gleaming bright, it's a fantastic sight," she teased in a quiet singsong voice.
A threatening hoof hovered close to her mouth. "Crystal..."
She paused a moment, then quickly finished, "It's a glimmer worl—" The hoof clamped her mouth shut and she gave a muffled laugh.
He groaned and frowned at her. "Now it's stuck in my head!"
"Mmf!" She pushed his hoof away. "Come on, just let it out." She grinned. "You'll feel better."
"I will not. Now, if I promise to give you my dessert for lunch, will you be quiet and just enjoy the ride?"
After a moment of humming and contemplation, she finally nodded and leaned against him again. "All right, it's a deal."
The boat had moved into an urban diorama with tall buildings covered in vertical farms. As impressive as it was, it looked like a scene out of some environmental parody of a play. Perhaps Moss Takes Manehattan? She giggled to herself.
Halfway into the next depiction of new farming ideas, Silent sighed heavily. Crystal inclined her head to look up at him. "What's wrong, Siley?"
"It's a world of crystals, a world of glass," he mumbled.
Her ears perked upright and she continued, "It's a world of refraction, a world of class!"
There was a pause before they grinned and quietly finished together, "It's a glimmering glimmer world!"
---
The Crystal Empire was a series of concentric circles, divided into different districts, with every street eventually ending in the central plaza around the palace. Crystal and Silent walked at a leisurely pace to take in all the sights and just enjoy their last day in the Empire. They had left the resort with plenty of time to spare before their appointed lunch with Shining Armor and Lady Cadence, which gave them ample time for sightseeing.
"Crystal Wishes?" Lazuli's voice called.
Crystal stopped, looked around in surprise, and spotted the mare trotting toward them. "Oh! Hello, Lazuli!"
Silent blinked. "You know a crystal pony?"
"Huh? Oh, well, somewhat, yes. She works with Velvet," Crystal replied before raising her voice to address Lazuli. "What are you doing here?"
"You mean, what is a crystal pony doing visiting her home, the Crystal Empire?" Lazuli teased, laughing softly. "I think the better question is what are you doing here?" Her gaze flickered to Silent. "And who is this?"
Crystal beamed at her. "Lazuli, this is Silent Knight. My special..." She burst into a fit of giggles and corrected, "My fiancé."
Lazuli tilted her head. "I didn't know you were engaged. Belated congratulations!"
"Actually, he just proposed a few days ago." Crystal giggled again.
"What?" Lazuli's eyes widened. "Really?! Oh, wow! Fresh congratulations then!" She clapped her hooves, but the movement stopped as her brow furrowed. "Wait, does this mean Velvet—"
"Doesn't know and you absolutely can't tell her," Crystal hurriedly interrupted, her mirth dissipating in an instant. "At least not until I do."
Lazuli laughed and drew a hoof over her lips. "Your secret's safe with me! I never saw anything!"
Crystal smiled. "Thank you, Lazuli. Oh, and..." She glanced at Silent, then stepped closer and whispered, "Do you remember that thing you mentioned the last time we spoke?"
Silent's ears twitched, but he made a show of not looking at them and instead turning away to stare elsewhere.
"Huh? Oh, wait, you mean—" She nodded. "Do you want me to procure some?"
"I believe I would, given the recent events." Crystal smiled sheepishly.
Lazuli winked. "I'll pick some up since I'm already here."
Crystal's smile widened. "Thank you!" She turned and reached for Silent's hoof. "Come on, Siley. We don't want to be late!" She looked back at the other mare. "It was nice running into you, Lazuli. Have a glimmering day!"
"A glimmering day?" Lazuli rolled her eyes. "Oh, great, now that song is going to be stuck in my head..." She sighed, flashed a smile, and started on her way, singing under her breath, "It's a glimmering glimmer world!"
Crystal giggled and walked alongside Silent as they resumed making their way toward the palace. "She's so awfully nice. But all the crystal ponies seem to be full of so much cheer and joy, so I suppose that's normal here."
Silent nodded. "That does seem to be the case."
She smiled up at him. "We're so lucky that the Empire reappeared during our lifetime and that we get to walk these streets and see these sights. I never even knew this place existed. It's hard to believe that all of this, that all of these ponies, all this time have just been... well..."
He blinked a few times. "Disappeared? Suspended in time? Lost?" He shook his head. "I'm not sure, to be honest. The details are just as foggy as their memories."
"Well..." She trailed, pursing her lips, then smiled. "I'm glad the Empire is back. Everything we've seen has been such an inspiration that I'm almost afraid I'll forget some of the beautiful sights. As soon as we get home, I'll be sitting down and putting quill to paper for days."
"Oh?" He raised one brow, grinning. "Does that mean you're ready to rush home now?"
She gasped. "No! No, not now. Not until after we have lunch at the palace, at the least."
He chuckled and gently brushed his shoulder to hers. "All right. Well, we'll have our lunch, then rush home."
"Fine." She stuck out her tongue at him.
They walked up the stairs that led to the main doors of the palace and Silent said to the guards, "Silent Knight and Crystal Wishes to see Shining Armor and Lady Cadence."
The guards nodded. "Yes, sir," one said. "They're expecting you." They reached out and opened their respective doors.
Silent nodded back. "Thank you." He followed Crystal inside and both of them stopped to marvel at the interior.
Just like their resort, the main room extended high above them and the smooth, crystalline walls radiated a glimmering light. If it weren't for the subdued iridescent hues, it would likely have been a blinding sight. As it was, it was absolutely resplendent.
"I want to live in a palace like this." Even though the words came out as a whisper, the vastness of the room echoed them off the walls, and she winced. "Sorry," she whispered even quieter.
He raised his brow. "If that's what you want, then you may want to consider a different husband."
"Oh, you." She hid a giggle behind a hoof. "I'm just admiring. Let a filly dream."
"All right. Well, you just keep dreaming." He patted her on the head, grinning lightly. "You can buy any crystal palace that you can afford, and we'll use my salary to make sure we can eat."
She huffed and snubbed her nose at him. "I'll remember that, so you better mean it." While her head was inclined, she noticed and admired the statues of ancient ponies lining the walls. "Oh, wow, Silent... Look at all of the statues. They're gorgeous."
As they wandered to doors placed on the opposite wall of the entrance, two guards posted on both sides let them through. They walked down a long hallway that led to a cross-section with yet another statue in the middle. Unlike the others, however, this statue sat on a raised dias and was carved out of a dark-colored crystal. It would have been imposing if it weren't for the kind look depicted on the unicorn's face.
"I wonder who this is," Crystal mused aloud, tilting her head to one side.
"This is Sombra, the unicorn king," a soft, feminine voice explained from behind them.
They turned to see Lady Cadence approaching, a smile on her face. "He was a distant relative of mine. Or, potentially, he still is." She shook her head. "Nopony has seen him since the Crystal Empire reappe—" She gasped when she was close enough to see Crystal more clearly. "Is that what I think it is?!"
"It is!" she squealed and rushed forward to close the distance between them. "He proposed after the fireworks show in Glimmer World!"
Cadence returned the squeal with a squeal of her own. She pulled Crystal into a tight embrace and the two bounced up and down while giggling like little school fillies.
"That's so wonderful to hear!" Cadence finally said, pulling away to smile down at Crystal. "This changes everything now! We can't just have lunch. We have to have lunch!"
Silent's wings pressed in close to his sides. "We don't want to be a bother, Lady Cadence."
"What? Oh, no!" She shook her head. "You two are never a bother. Come on, now!" She started walking forward. "Shining is just finishing up some business. Actually, thinking on it"—she stopped, turned around, and took Crystal's hoof in her own—"why don't you go on ahead to retrieve him while Crystal and I gossip behind your back?"
He chuckled, the tension leaving his muscles and his ears wiggling. "All right."
"Great!" She gestured in a vague direction, her attention focused on Crystal. "His office is that way! Good luck!" She trotted off in the opposite direction. "So, you must tell me everything!" The look in her eyes went from overjoyed to somewhat predatory as she squeezed Crystal's hoof. "And I mean everything."
Crystal's cheeks flushed. "Well, I suppose it is only fair to start at the beginning. It was Hearts and Hooves Day, and..."
---
"... then when the area had cleared out, he got down on one knee and proposed with the most romantic little line!" Cadence exclaimed, hugging Silent to her and petting his mane. "What was it again, Crystal?"
Crystal cleared her throat as she tried to keep her giggles at bay. "He said that, if I would have him, it would be my last day as his marefriend and the next would be my first as his fiancée."
Cadence clapped her hooves together before returning to the hugging and petting. "Don't you think it's so incredibly sweet of your little guard, Shining? All of that effort and planning to propose to Crystal? Oh, it's like a real life fairytale!"
Silent tried to struggle when the squeezing grew tighter and gave a muffled sound for help.
"Yes, dear," Shining said, lifting a glass of water to his lips. "It was very sweet. Now let him go before you turn their tale into a tragedy."
Cadence blinked. "Huh?" She looked down to see Silent, gasped, and let go of him. "Sorry!" She giggled and clasped her cheeks. "I can't help myself! It's just so romantic! And I feel so personally invested in you two, especially after Crystal and I had our little talk at the hospital. I just knew you two were meant for each other and I'm glad you realized it!"
Crystal smothered a giggle behind a polite hoof. "Well, I'm glad you were so sure about everything. I was terrified."
"Love conquers all!" Cadence exclaimed, beaming at them with a blindingly bright smile.
Shining Armor laughed and put a foreleg around Cadence's shoulder, pulling her to him and saying, "Now, dear, be careful or you'll embarrass our guests into leaving. Why don't we change topics to, say, politics?"
The glimmer in Crystal's eyes vanished. Politics? Her ears shot up before folding back flat against her mane.
Cadence clapped her hooves together. "Oh, yes, politics! Let's talk about that!"
Crystal looked to Silent for help, but he didn't make eye contact with her. Instead, he said, "Politics sounds fine."
"Well, I don't know if the news has reached Canterlot or not," Cadence explained, "but the crystal ponies recently held an election to pick a new governor. My position here was only temporary until they got back on their hooves, you see."
"Uh-huh," Silent replied happily, now looking at Crystal with a small smile on his face.
"I had not heard any of that, no," Crystal, by contrast, replied cautiously and glanced between them.
"And who did they elect, dear?" Shining prompted.
Cadence threw her hooves in the air and cheered, "Me!"
"Oh, my! Really?" Crystal put a hoof to her chest and gave a small sigh of relief. "Congratulations, Cadence! That's wonderful! I wasn't aware you were even running, I'm afraid, or else I would have tried to find a way to show my support."
"I wasn't running!" Cadence smiled. "They wrote my name in. Can you believe it? It was a huge surprise, but I am extremely humbled and honored." Her smile softened some. "Which means we won't be going back to Canterlot anytime soon. I'll be sworn in to office two weeks from Monday, and Shining is going to stay here as the Crystal Empire's provincial guard commander. Doesn't that sound fancy?"
Crystal nodded while Silent asked, "I imagine that means you'll make brigadier soon, then?"
Shining didn't react much one way or the other beyond replying, "The selection list isn't out yet, but I have been told that my name is on it, yes."
Silent paused for a moment, nodding idly, before he smiled and said, "It seems like all of us deserve proper congratulations, then."
"I agree!" Cadence chimed in. "Everypony, lift your glasses!" After they all had, she continued, "To the happy couple."
Crystal giggled and raised her glass higher. "To new adventures."
"To fresh beginnings," Shining added.
There was a pause, then the three of them turned their heads to look at Silent. He blinked and looked between each of their gazes. Finally, after some considerable thought, he smiled and asked more than said, "To remembering old friends regardless of where we go?"
"Yes, indeed!" Cadence cheered. Their glasses clinked together, then they each tossed back the bubbly alcohol with varying degrees of enthusiasm for what the future held.