Pacing back and forth, Leaf does his best not panic as his mind races. Ears pinned back against his head he does his best to try and steady his breathing like he had been taught at the Wonderbolts Academy, even if it barely does anything to calm his racing thoughts and rapid heartbeat.
Reaching a hoof up to brush against the pocket of his jacket, Leaf checks on the source of his distress; a small velvet box containing a ring.
Lowering his hoof, he continues pacing. Tonight is the night he is going to ask her. Tonight, he is going to ask Daring to marry him…. To take that one giant step forward with him and be his wife. The thought of being married to her makes his heart soar, but the thought of actually asking her scares him more than even facing down Silver Lining….
“Leaf, are you in here?” A voice comes from the entrance to the room he is pacing in, causing Leaf to freeze in his tracks. When he says nothing, the door opens and the pony who spoke comes on. “Still pacing?”
“I can’t help it, Witchy,” Leaf sighs, his shoulders slumping. “I… I just can’t do it. I’m a coward.”
Witch sighs as well, moving to sit near her brother. “Leaf… Do I need to have this conversation with you again?” she asks, raising an eyebrow at him.
“NO!” Leaf says loudly out of instinct before he shakes his head. “No… no I… Witch, I’m scared. What if she doesn’t want to be my wife? What if she says no?”
“She won’t. Everypony can see how much you mean to each other, Leaf… You’d have to be blind not to!” Witch insists. “Really, Leaf… How long have you been working with her? How much shit have you two gotten into and out of together? What is this beyond making that arrangement permanent… Like you two did four months ago?” she asks, giving him an arched and pointed look.
“She’s just a free spirit, Witch,” Leaf mutters. “I don’t want to tie her down or anything.” He pauses and looks at Witch, who has raised an eyebrow at him. “I sound like a broken record don’t I?”
“Yep,” Witch confirms firmly. “Look at it this way, Leaf… If you don’t ask, will you regret it?”
“Yes…” Leaf sighs, sitting down with a thump. “I just… This is the most important question I am ever going to ask her, and I don’t know how to even start.”
“Well, the usual form involves telling the mare you love all the wonderful things about her, and how your life is meaningless without her… But Dee doesn’t strike me as the type to really appreciate that… Then again, she might since I doubt anypony ever talks to her like that…” Witch muses. “Could always go the cheesy route and say that she’s the best treasure you’ve ever hunted,” she offers with a grin and a laugh.
“But she is the best treasure I’ve ever hunted!” Leaf moans, lowering his head and putting his hooves over his eyes. “I mean, for Celestia’s sake, her fur color is gold!”
Witch just shrugs, still smiling mirthfully at her brother. “So roll with it then. Honestly, Leaf… You’re acting like me right now!”
Sitting up quickly, Leaf’s eyes go wide. “Oh no, I’m turning into my sister!?” He gets up and starts pacing again. “I just need to calm down, then I can figure this out… but… what if I don’t?”
Making a noise of frustrated disgust, Witch moves quickly to face Leaf before pulling back and slapping him full-force across his face. “LEAF!” she snaps even as Leaf holds his jaw and pulls himself up from the floor. “Breathe, will you?! I’m getting sick of your emotional constipation! Just ask her before I lock you both in a closet, again, until you pull the stick out of your ass and ask her!”
“Fine! Yes… okay…” Leaf breaths, rubbing his jaw. “Let me just pick my jaw up off the floor! Honestly, when the hay did you get so strong…?” He takes a few deep, slow, breaths before standing. “I don’t want to be locked in a closet again… though truthfully it might be easier.”
“Leaf… I’ve had to start training with the elites because I kept beating the other auxiliaries into the mats… And that was a slap… Do you want to find out what a punch feels like?” Witch asks, a hint of warning promise in her question even as she raises her hoof again.
“No, thank you, Senior Chief Petty Officer,” Leaf groans, continuing to rub his jaw as he turns to walk from the room. He stops at the door, swallows heavily as he steels his resolve, and steps into the hallway beyond.
From there, he makes his way back to the larger room that is serving as the center of the party, nearly losing his resolve as he starts into the crowd. However, the sight of Daring standing in the middle of the large group of ponies, laughing and having a good time, draws him forward like a moth to the flame. By the time he is next to her his heart is beating rapidly, and he is smiling warmly even as he fights the urge to turn and run.
“Hey, Leaf, where’d you wander off to?” Daring asks with a smirk. “I was afraid you were going to leave me alone to weather this party on my own!”
“N-no, I’d never leave you, dear,” Leaf chuckles nervously before clearing his throat. “A-and actually, I wanted to talk to you about something related to that.”
“Oh? And what would that be?” Daring inquires, raising an eyebrow as her smile slips. “You seem nervous…” She narrows her eyes and reaches over with a hoof, gently turning his face to one side to look at the red spot on the side of his muzzle. “Did someone slap you?”
“Yeah, but it’s not important, I nee-” Leaf starts before Daring cuts him off.
“No, it’s important, who hit you!” Daring says loudly, the conversation in the room instantly stopping as all eyes go towards the two.
“It was Witch,” Leaf states quickly, waving a hoof. “I was being a coward, but… but I’m not going to be a coward anymore.” Daring opens her mouth to comment but Leaf holds a hoof up to silence her. “Daring… just let me say my piece, okay?”
“Alright,” Daring agrees, sitting down and raising an eyebrow.
“We’ve been on a lot of adventures, the two of us,” Leaf starts, his voice quivering as he feels all the eyes on him. “We’ve seen things a lot of ponies have, and likely never will see ever again. We’ve uncovered treasures that have been lost to the world for centuries, some really rare and valuable that they deserve nothing less than to be shared with everypony… others so dangerous and dark that we’ve sealed them away so nopony will ever find them again.” He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly before he continues. “B-but, I’ve only really ever cared about one treasure I’ve found. Something that puts the rarest gems to shame, makes all the ancient cities and sunrises pale in comparison…” He trails off for a moment before looking up into Daring’s eyes, the world around him fading as he gets lost in them, a smile spreading over his face. “But… I find I’ve got a choice in front of me regarding this treasure, and… it’s not easy, but I think I’m ready to admit that I can’t live my life without that treasure.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls the little box out as he kneels down. “So… I have a question for you, treasure I found.” He opens it to show off the beautiful ring inside. “A.K. Yearling… Daring, will you do me the tremendous honor of marrying me?”
For a long moment Daring looks between the ring and Leaf, her face neutral as she processes what just happened. Then, very slowly, her eyes grow wide and her mouth opens slightly in a silent ‘o’ before she raises a hoof to her mouth, her eyes tearing up as she launches herself at Leaf.
“Yes! I’ll marry you, you silly stallion!” Daring shouts as the ponies around them cheer, only to stop a few seconds later as the loudest excited squeal anypony there has ever heard echoes through the room.
“Oh… Sorry, everypony….” Cinna giggles as her squeal fades from the air and various ponies rub at their ears.