Castus and Fluttershy sat together on a bench, overlooking the falls of Neighagra Falls. On any other day, Castus would have made a joke about the name, and maybe find himself in a deep mental debate on the nature of parallel worlds and the nature of places and names like this, but at the moment he could care less about that.
All that mattered to him right now, was the mare seated next to him, head resting against his shoulder and whose wings were wrapped around them both. And the two fillies that lay next to them, resting their heads in their laps in the tell tale signs of sleep.
"They look so adorable when they sleep. Don't they?" Fluttershy cooed, her hoof gently brushing Moonlight's mane as the little thestral filly lay curled on the bench and using Fluttershy's lap for a pillow. Moonlights tail was curled up around her, the end planted in her mouth as she nibbled on it in her sleep.
"Hmmm. Yeah. They do." Castus said, looking down as Azure Shadow nibbled on his palm as she slept. She too lay curled up, though ever so often her wings would twitch as she slept.
The family had decided to take a weekend trip, given that Castus could open a Waygate to nearly anywhere in Equestria or beyond if he so wished, it made such travel easy. Fluttershy wanted their first weekend together as a family to be special, and Castus was willing to do whatever he could to make it so.
They had walked through a number of trails, all of which Fluttershy saw a number of flora and fauna she gushed over, and with a little persuading from Castus, they all got to see a rare species of bird land right on Fluttershy's shoulder. She was so excited she nearly fainted. Moonlight and Azure also had fun, though they enjoyed the tour in a crystal cave where one room was full with crystals the size of trees. After that, they had a nice family dinner at a local restaurant on one of the outdoor balcony tables, giving a gorgeous view of the sunset and the falls.
And through it all, Castus didn't receive many dirty looks. Oh true, some ponies looked at him with suspicion, but others either ignored him or in one case of a few tourists, were too busy taking pictures of him that even if Castus could have seen their faces behind their cameras the flashes had done enough to momentarily blind him anyway.
At the end of the day, with the moon beginning to rise and the stars beginning to appear, the family of four now sat to rest and watch the stars.
"This was a nice day. We should do something like this again next year." Castus said, resting his head against Fluttershy's as she snuggled in closer.
Fluttershy smiled, "That would be lovely."
Castus smiled, and then thought of the item he had hidden in his coat pocket. He had bought it some time ago, but things had never seemed like the right time to give it. But now, here in what was claimed as the most romantic place in Equestria, with the mare he loved and with the new daughters now in their lives; was now the right time?
'Do ponies even do this? I mean, I don't know much on their culture when it comes to things like this. I guess I should just get it done and see.' He thought, feeling apprehensive and a little worried.
Not that he had any reason to be worried, but he felt it was just that instinctive feeling of worry that came when someone was going to do something they knew would change their life forever, even if they knew or thought they knew what the answer would be. But, but he knew the answer? Right? I mean, its not like he had any reasons to doubt what he felt the answer would be, so why would he be worried?
Right?!
"Castus, is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked, looking at him with worry.
"Wrong? Why do you ask?" Castus asked, looking at Fluttershy.
"Well you feel tense under my wings. Is everything okay?" Fluttershy asked, worried still.
Castus had forgotten that Pegasi wings were sensitive, though he never imagined they be that sensitive. He cleared his throat and ran his hand through Fluttershy's mane.
"I'm fine dear. Really, but...can we talk? Over there a bit?" Castus asked, pointing to a area closer to the falls, but not far from eyesight of the bench they sat on.
"O-okay." Fluttershy said with a nod, and she and Castus carefully moved, placing their coats under the girls heads to give them something soft to lay on; with Castus slipping the item out of the pocket and stuffed it into his pocket.
The two came to the spot, and Fluttershy looked at Castus curiously, and worried.
"Castus?" She asked.
Castus took her hooves in his hand, feeling his heart beat faster. She looked at him intently.
"Fluttershy. You know I care about you. Deeply. And the girls too. You all mean more to me then anything else in this whole cosmos." He started, wondering if that was too corny or cheesy. God why does this have to be so damn difficult?
"I know. And you know I love you too. And the girls love you as well." Fluttershy said, smiling softly as her hooves gripped Castus hands.
"I know, and nothing makes me happier then knowing that," Castus said, "Which is why...which is why..."
He felt his heart beat racing now, and he thought it was harder to breathe. Castus mentally screamed at himself, 'Come on Castus, you bastard, just say it!'
Discord sat near the t.v. eyes glued to the screen. He wasn't really one for such lovey, dovey, stuff like this. In fact, even watching this much was making him ill, but the suspense was killing him. This was the climax of this part of his new live action, drama, horror, comedy action film and t.v. show. And here was one of the main cast, taking his sweet loving time on such a critical moment. It was maddening.
"Oh come on Castus. Just say it!" He yelled at the t.v. screen, before sucking away at the soda's in his soda hat, the entire hat and then the straws slowly vanishing as he did, even as the cans sat in empty air above his head.
Castus took a deep breath and slowly got down on one knee. He wasn't sure if this is what ponies did, if they did this at all, but he figured it was the best, and he pulled out the box from his pocket and held it out. Fluttershy looked down at him, hooves over her mouth and tears in her eyes.
"I...confess, I don't know how ponies go about this sort of thing. But for me, as a human, we do something like this when we find someone we care deeply for. Want to spend the rest of our lives with." Castus said, feeling as if he was going to pass out at any moment, and it was sheer will power keeping him composed.
"Castus..." Fluttershy breathed, tears running down her eyes now.
"I love you Fluttershy. And no matter what happens, that will always be so. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and if you will have me...well...." He gulped and said the last few words with shaky hands.
"Will you. Marry me?" He asked, feeling his stomach clench and doing back flips as he opened the box.
Within was a golden hoof bracelet, adorned with bright diamonds and the center stone was Fluttershy's birth stone. The bracelet lay comfortably in the box and in the middle of the bracelet, lay the silver chain and stone of a necklace, the stone was a deep ocean blue, Sky Crystal, a rare gemstone that was in Pegasus culture very symbolic as it was magical in nature and thus very hard to cut. Luckily, Castus knew a gem expert who knew an expert in cutting gems. Though it had been a pain trying to keep his reasoning's a secret and he was sure she was able to guess his intentions even then. Luckily she kept quiet about it.
Fluttershy made a sound between a cry and a sound of glee, as Castus slowly took the bracelet out and placed it on her left hoof. Then he stood up and put the necklace around her neck, the gem resting just above her chest.
Fluttershy's whole body shook, looking from the bracelet, to the necklace and to Castus.
Castus gulped, and waited.
He didn't need to wait long, before Fluttershy flung herself at him and locked her lips to his, as they fell to the ground. The two lay there for a moment before releasing each other and looking in each others eyes. Castus brushed away the tears in Fluttershy's eyes with a smile.
"Yes. Yes! This is the happiest day of my life." Fluttershy whispered, new tears appearing.
'Oh thank god.' Castus thought, feeling relieved. Of course, he had nothing to worry about....right? Someone really needed to do a study on this pre-proposal anxiety.
The two smiled at each other, before once more kissing each other, unknown to them watching were two sets of slitted eyes, from two little bat ponies who watched with smiles on their faces.
Azure felt a sense of happiness, feeling more then ever that she and her sister were now part of a real family. Even if her new father was a human and her mother was a peasus, and she and her sister were thestrals. They were a family.
And they would all, always be together.